Time to stop legal aid tendering process?

The Law Society has demanded an immediate halt to the legal aid tendering process after it emerged that almost half of firms providing family law services have lost their contracts.

The Law Society has written to the Legal Services Commission (LSC) and the government calling for the tendering process to be suspended while a public review is carried out to see whether areas around the country will have enough coverage.

Wales, the south-west, north-east and Leeds are believed to be particularly lacking in family legal aid provision.

The society is also calling for compensation for firms which have lost contracts, and is taking legal advice on whether it can bring a judicial review.
The LSC has confirmed that the number of family law providers has fallen by about 46%, from 2,400 to about 1,300.

Despite the figures, Carolyn Downs, LSC chief executive, has said a reduction of the supplier base was not an intended outcome of the tendering process.

Meanwhile, Law Society president, Linda Lee has accused the LSC of losing control of the tendering process. 

“The fall-out from these tenders will see almost 50% of firms previously doing legal aid work removed in a matter of a few weeks and this will impact on families and vulnerable people, preventing them access to vital legal services.

“The society is fully supportive of the need for quality standards in tendering. The implications of the LSC’s own surprise at the outcome is that skilled and talented lawyers who weeks ago delivered a quality service will now be prevented from helping those in need. When even the LSC itself is saying the outcome was not intended, and when clients are deprived of legal advice and services and firms are seeing important contracts vanish, the government has to take a closer look at this and make a decision.”

The society is surveying its members to find out which firms are affected.