The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has outlined its approach to
future civil, crime and telephone advice tenders. It is based on
the proposals contained in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment
of Offenders Bill as it currently stands.
While we continue to campaign against many aspects of the bill
such as the scope cuts and the mandatory telephone gateway, we
appreciate that the LSC's role is to implement government policy
and we welcome their acknowledgement of the importance of retaining
'as much stability and certainty as is possible' during the
transition period and their stated intention to 'keep the tender
processes as simple as possible'.
However, the headline approach leaves many questions unanswered
about the details and timescales of the tendering process and we
will be seeking further clarification from the LSC about how the
tenders will operate.
Read the
LSC's headline approach