Legal aid lawyers are due to hear the outcome of their bids for civil contracts by end of next week
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) began notifying applicants this week about the results of applications for face-to-face contracts to begin in April in family, housing and debt, immigration and asylum, and housing possession court duty schemes.
The LSC said there had been “significantly more demand for work than work available”. Bids were received from 3,828 offices compared to 3,054 offices currently delivering the services. The level of oversubscription was particularly pronounced for immigration and asylum services.
LSC director of commissioning Hugh Barrett said: “The high volume of bids shows that there remains strong interest from legal firms in providing legal aid advice and representation.
“We are very pleased that, based on these results, there will continue to be a good level of coverage across England and Wales from 1 April 2013.”
Both successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified, with details of the volume of work awarded. Successful applicants must complete a verification process before contracts can be issued.
