The results of the tender for new family contracts commencing on
1 February have been announced. This was a non-competitive bid
round in so far as once firms had satisfied certain essential
requirements, they were guaranteed a contract although that
contract might not be as large as the one bid for. There has been
an approximate six per cent reduction in the number of offices
although this figure may increase when firms make the final
decision whether to take up the contracts. There were a small
number of unsuccessful bids partly offset by 60 new entrants,
mainly in London. The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has released
further details about the outcome:
- all applicants who have successfully completed the tender
process will receive a contract and matter start allocation
- 94 offices have been offered a licence only contract without
matter starts. The high level of requests for licence only
contracts has meant much less competition for matter starts than in
the previous tender where all providers had to bid for a minimum
number (usually 50 to 100)
- in addition to the above, 582 offices have been successful in
Lot 1 (between 1 and 50 matter starts)
- 1,048 offices have been successful in Lot 2 (between 51 and 150
matter starts)
- 544 offices have been successful in Lot 3 (over 150 matter
starts)
- there are only three procurement areas with less than five
providers: Darlington, Kensington and Chelsea, and Barking and
Dagenham. The number of providers in both Barking and Dagenham and
Darlington has reduced through the tender process. However, in
Barking and Dagenham there is also a Community Legal Advice Centre
delivering family advice.
The tender appears to have delivered a sensible outcome although
we are concerned by the drop in the number of firms, which can only
be expected in the light of the ten per cent cut in fees and
forthcoming scope cuts in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment
of Offenders Bill.
These contracts are expected to last less than a year when they
will be replaced by post Legal Aid Bill contracts with a much
reduced scope for family legal aid.