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22 December 2009
Categories: Legal News
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BVT pilots are cancelled

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Pilots for best value tendering (BVT) in criminal legal aid work will not go ahead as planned, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed.

Pilots for best value tendering (BVT) in criminal legal aid work will not go ahead as planned, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed.

The Ministry dropped the plans at the eleventh hour following representations made by the Law Society and by legal aid firms—the first pilots were due to begin in Greater Manchester, Avon and Somerset in January 2010.

The Ministry said the scheme, which would see legal aid firms bidding for contracts, is “unlikely to lead to the efficient, restructured legal services market envisaged by Lord Carter in his 2006 Review of Legal Aid Procurement”.

Law Society President Robert Heslett says: “This is a great Christmas present. The Society has campaigned against this tendering scheme from its infancy.”

Legal aid solicitors have campaigned against the scheme, arguing that it represents a cut in their fees and would make legal aid work uneconomic to pursue.

Carolyn Regan, chief executive of the Legal Services Commission

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