Legal Aid preparing for 2010
Major changes in legal aid provision are
on the way, and in this section of our website,
CLS Support provides information and
guidance on civil legal aid contracting in 2010.
New timetable for Tender Notifications
The Social Welfare Law (SWL) and Family tender page contains the latest timetable for notifications. The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are halfway down the documents panel on the right hand side. SWL and Family tender page
(23rd July 2010)
Amended timetable for the tenders
The Legal Services Commission has amended the tender timetable for notifying applicants about the success of their tenders to:
- Mental Health and Immigration – end of May
- Social Welfare Law and Family – early July. Those failing the PQQ and/or Essential Criteria will be notified by early June.
- Low Volume Categories – July
Notification will take place through the message boards in the eTendering portal. The LSC may need to contact you before this where they need to clarify points made in your bid.
LSC Timetable
(21st May 2010)
General Election upsets Immigration Tender Timetable
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has put out the following statement on possible delays to the Immigration tender timetable:
"9 April 2010 - Important Tender Timetable Update
We had previously advised that we hoped to notify applicants on decisions on the Immigration tenders this week.
However, given that a general election has now been called, we are currently checking with the Cabinet Office propriety guidance on whether we can communicate this information during the run up to the election."
Immigration Tender Timetable
(13th April 2010)
Final Frequently Asked Questions – Social Welfare Law
The LSC has published its final Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Social Welfare Law and Family Services. Please check these now in case you have to amend your bid in light of the answers.
Please, please, please do not wait until the last minute to submit your bid as the LSC technical team is likely to be very busy in the days leading up to the tender deadline. SWL and Family FAQ
(13th April 2010)
Social Welfare Law - Breaking news on Consortia
The original Information for Applicants (IFA) in the Social Welfare Law Tender stated that a provider could not bid as a member of a consortium if bidding to deliver all three of the core categories at the relevant office i.e. Housing, Debt and Welfare Benefits. The LSC has recognised the difficulties this would cause and has decided to allow such an organisation to bid as part of a consortium. It has amended the IFA already and is in the process of amending the Tender Form. Notice to amend terms and conditions of the IFA
(8th March 2010)
Social Welfare Law Tender - submit your questions without delay
The tender process for Social Welfare Law (SWL) opened on 26th February 2010. The deadline for submitting tenders is 12 noon on 21st April 2010.
You can find full details on the tender process and how to apply in the Information for Applicants on the right hand side of the Legal Services Commission Social Welfare Law and Family tendering page
We advise you to read the documents and put questions to the LSC without delay. See paragraphs 3.6 - 3.13 of the Information for Applicants for more details.
Questions on content:
The deadline for questions on the content of the Information for Applicants (IFA), the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) or the Invitation to Tender (ITT) is 2pm on 31st March 2010. This is referred to as the "End date for clarification messages" on the eTendering system. You must submit all questions using the online secure messaging tool within the eTendering system. The LSC will collate and answer questions centrally in writing if it considers them to be of wider interest and publish them on the civil tender pages of the website in a "SWL and Family Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)" document. A final SWL and Family FAQ document will be published on 7th April 2010
Questions on how to use the eTendering system:
If you have technical questions on how to use the eTendering system, you must as soon as possible email lscsupport@bravosolutions.co.uk or call their Helpdesk on 0203 349 6610
Immigration and Asylum
The tender process for the Invitations to Tender for face-to-face services in the Immigration Category of Law across England and Wales opened at 12 noon on 30 Nov 2009.
To allow additional time over the Christmas and New Year period, the tender window will be open for just over 8 weeks. All tenders must be submitted by 12 noon on 28 January 2010.
Full details, including the Information for Applicants, and instructions on how to access and use the eTendering system, will be accessible via the Immigration Tender pages of the LSC website: http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/civil/tendering/immigration.asp
Updated version of the Immigration Procurement Plan
An updated version of the Immigration Procurement Plan for England and Wales, which outlines the services the LSC intends to procure as part of the 2010 Civil Contracts procurement process, can be found at http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/civil/tendering/immigration.asp
It has been amended to reflect the changes the LSC has made to the minimum matter start requirements for Service Specification A (which applies to London only) as well as changes to the way the LSC will invite tenders for Devon and North East Wales.
Other civil tenders
The bid round for all other civil work is planned for the week beginning 8 February 2010. The bid round will be open for 7 weeks.
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) set out its proposals for future contracting in Civil Bid Rounds for 2010 Contracts. The new 3 year civil legal aid contracts will now begin in October 2010. Current contracts will be extended for 6 months. The tender will still be based on the consultation response document.
The LSC has indicated that:
- existing contractors wanting to renew their contract will need to tender in an open bid round
- payments will continue to be based on the present fixed fee system (although competitive price tendering will be piloted in two or three procurement areas)
- it intends to move towards purchasing social welfare law services together
- this will be achieved either through mainstream legal aid contracts or, where possible, joint commissioning with local authorities (Community Legal Advice Centres or Networks).
Possible options for agencies may include:
- withdrawing from legal aid work
- expanding your service
- merging with other organisations
- providing joint services through consortia
The pages in this section bring together material focusing on how to position yourself in a rapidly changing legal aid landscape as opposed to how to run an existing legal aid contract. This includes documents produced by Legal Services Commission and ASA, but where relevant we also provide links to other helpful documents or organisations.
The timescale for change is short, so you need to start considering your options now. And you need to be consulting your trustees on possible courses of action
Other Links
Bid Process for 2010 - LSC documents
