FIVE-YEAR ROUTE MAP: changes to fees, contracts and implementation of best value tendering


The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has published a five-year route map setting out its plans for the development of civil legal aid.



The document was drawn up as part of the agreement reached between the Law Society, the LSC and the Ministry of Justice in the settlement of long-running concerns over civil legal aid.



It outlines principles for consultation and sets out a proposed timetable for changes to fees, contractual arrangements and the implementation of best value tendering (BVT).



The first stage of the plan is a 12-week consultation, launched last week, seeking views on how the LSC can work with legal aid providers in the future. The 'Delivery Transformation' proposals, which the LSC claims will save £7 million a year, aim to simplify business processes, devolve responsibilities and expand electronic working.



Meanwhile the LSC has revealed that LSC online is scheduled to be re-launched in stages from October following extensive trials. The system, which enables firms to submit their fee claims via the internet, was suspended two weeks after its launch in November 2007 due to technical problems. The LSC recently admitted it will cost £2.7 million to fix (see [2008] Gazette, 20 March, 1).



Law Society chief executive Des Hudson said: 'The route map, one of the many significant benefits the Law Society secured in our legal aid agreement with the LSC, provides firms with a chance to plan for the future, when previously the future was uncertain.'



In particular, he welcomed the confirmation that civil BVT would not be introduced before 2013 and the LSC's clarification over what contracting arrangements for social welfare law services will be introduced in 2010.



But he said: 'There are still unanswered questions over how the profession will be ready and willing to tender in many areas of the country for social welfare law contracts.'



Roy Morgan, director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, said: 'The concern among solicitors is that the LSC is divesting itself of administrative tasks and passing them on to providers without reimbursement.'



LSC executive director of policy Richard Collins said the route map would 'provide a significant period of certainty and stability for civil legal aid providers, enabling them and the LSC to adapt to the changes already introduced, and to plan properly for future reforms.'



Catherine Baksi