Next steps for legal aid

The consultation on our initial proposals for best value tendering (BVT), Best Value Tendering for Criminal Defence Services: a Consultation Paper, closes on 3 March. These proposals were published in December 2007, together with other important next steps in the legal aid reforms.

I say “initial proposals” because the consultation is intended, subject to our consideration of the responses to it, to be the first of two. We are calling for early input from providers to give them maximum opportunity to contribute to how the BVT proposals develop. The reforms aim to deliver quality, access, and value for money, ensuring the future sustainability of services for the people who need them. Many who oppose change will say that the reforms threaten this, but the greatest threat is to do nothing.

Transforming legal aid is vital. We must move away from paying for hours worked instead of services delivered for clients (and the resulting unsustainable cost increases and inefficiencies)