All cases on the books of the collapsed Immigration Advisory Service (IAS) have been transferred to alternative providers, the Legal Services Commission has said.

The commission is also continuing the process of reallocating IAS’s unused new matter starts, carrying out a ‘mini tender’ in some areas.

The LSC said IAS had more than 8,000 open files when it went into administration in July.

It said a total of 5,612 files have been transferred to alternative immigration advice providers, while another 2,528 files have been opened in error, and were cases which should not have had legal aid, or were ready to be closed.

In reallocating the unused case allocation awarded to IAS in the 2010 tender round, the LSC said it has gone back to that bid exercise and offered new matter starts both to providers who were eligible for a contract but not awarded one due to the level of competition, and to those who were awarded fewer new matter starts than they bid for in that tender.

In some areas the LSC says it will use the existing rules in the legal aid contract for allocating supplementary new matter starts to existing legal aid providers.

In other procurement areas, including Bristol, South Gloucestershire & North Somerset, and Norfolk & Suffolk, it has invited expressions of interest from providers in a ‘mini tender’.

There will also be a re-tender for services in the City of Plymouth.

The LSC’s head of contract management John Sirodcar said: ‘The completion of the case transfer is excellent news. The exceptional efforts of the LSC, Cork Gully and legal aid providers have ensured that some of the most vulnerable people in society will continue to receive legal advice.’