Family Legal Aid contract extension

Since The Law Society applied for judicial review of the Legal Services Commission's (LSC) conduct of the tendering process for family legal aid contracts, the Law Society and LSC have provisionally agreed a one month extension of the current unified civil contract.

Whilst negotiations between the LSC, the Law Society, ASA and other interested parties are ongoing, the extension has been agreed to ensure that there is enough time to work through the judicial review process efficiently.

Following the latest discussions on Monday, 6 September 2010, the LSC has released a statement confirming:

• The contracts currently in place will now expire at midnight on Sunday, 14 November 2010.
• The new civil contracts will start first thing on the morning of Monday, 15 November 2010.
• To cover the one month extension, current contract holders will receive an additional one twelfth of their New Matter Start allocation.

Hugh Barrett, Executive Director of the LSC said: "The LSC are committed to completing this round of tenders. We will be as flexible as possible to ease the process for our providers, and we are doing everything possible to resolve matters to secure quality services for our clients."