NATIONAL PROJECT: practices that deliver quality advice to enjoy enhanced arrangements

The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is poised to work with 20 of the best-performing civil and criminal firms on a national pilot that will trial new contracting and payment arrangements, guaranteed provision of work, greater flexibility, and more incentives.

The preferred supplier pilot will be launched in June, but the LSC hopes that all firms will ultimately strive towards the enhanced status from next year.

Firms that can demonstrate financial health through their contractual performance, a decent costs profile, and excellence in delivering quality advice to their clients will be allowed to bid to take part in the pilot; detailed bidding criteria will be published in March.

The LSC is in talks with the Law Society and Legal Aid Practitioners Group (LAPG) over the practicalities of the scheme, but an LSC spokesman stressed the primary aim was to establish more 'effective, rewarding and business-like relationships' with all suppliers.

'When "preferred supplier" status is rolled out nationally, currently planned for April 2005, the list of preferred suppliers will not be closed to a select few,' he said.

LAPG director Richard Miller said he was optimistic that the scheme would cut down on onerous bureaucracy associated with audits.

'The pilot appears to be moving towards a much lighter touch, and we believe it should be available to all firms on an objective basis,' he added.

Law Society chief executive Janet Paraskeva said it welcomed any initiative that would properly reward legal aid solicitors and cut down on red tape, especially if it would eventually do away with audits.

'We will closely consider the proposals to ensure that they are fair to all solicitors and do not impinge on the ability of solicitors to act in the best interests of their clients,' she added.

Meanwhile, the government has backed LSC plans to slash the number of criminal firms operating in major conurbations by up to two-thirds (see [2003] Gazette, 20 November, 1).

Department for Constitutional Affairs minister David Lammy told MPs last month that the move was in line with the LSC's statutory obligation to provide value for money, and insisted that it would not impact on access to advice as each firm would undertake larger volumes of work.

Paula Rohan