News Release

Legal Aid Procurement Review wants your views

Date: 20 July 2005

A public consultation into the future of legal aid procurement has been launched today.

The Legal Aid Procurement Review would like to hear as many views as possible from those directly or indirectly affected into the best way of procuring legal services with legal aid. Advertisements inviting responses will appear in 10 national and regional newspapers and specialist legal trade magazines over the next two weeks.

Ideas, comments and submissions should be sent to:

The Secretariat
Lord Carter’s Review of Legal Aid Procurement
2.02 Selborne House
54 Victoria Street
LONDON SW1E 6QW
email:
fax: 020 7210 1348

Notes to Editors

1 On July 5, 2005, Lord Falconer the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs asked Lord Carter of Coles to examine how to improve the arrangements for purchasing publicly funded legal services.

2 The Legal Aid Procurement Review will look at the options for new procurement methods including price competition between lawyers, block contracting and lead supplier for all legal services for longer trials.

3 Lord Carter will report back in early 2006 with a plan setting out how to deliver the best way of buying and delivering legal services, in particular criminal defence services for high cost cases.

4 Full terms of reference for the review and further details can be found at the website www.legalaidprocurementreview.gov.uk.

ENDS