Law Society’s concerns over BVT reflected in Conservatives' plan to suspend roll-out

18 June 2009

The Law Society has welcomed the news that a Conservative government would suspend the national roll-out of best value tendering for criminal legal aid services following the Society's vocal arguments against the scheme.

Shadow justice secretary, Dominic Grieve QC, announced that a proper evaluation of the scheme would be needed before the national roll out, echoing the concerns of the Law Society. Under the current proposals in the Legal Services Commission's consultation BVT would begin a full national roll-out as early as June 2010, despite the fact that the so-called pilot contracts will not even have started by this date.

Last year, former LSC Chair Sir Michael Bichard promised a full evaluation after the pilot contracts had been operational for six months to a year before any decision on national roll-out was taken, a commitment which the Society welcomed at the time. Law Society chief executive, Desmond Hudson, says: "Our concerns about the abandonment of Sir Michael's commitment to a sound objective evaluation are well known. We welcome this statement from Dominic Grieve MP and we urge the LSC to think again before it is too late."

The Law Society says the scheme would drive down the number of firms providing legal aid services in criminal law, denying many people access to justice. Two weeks ago the Society called on its members to respond to the LSC consultation, to help explain to the LSC what the impact of their proposals will be.

Hudson says, "We have not yet found a single firm that believes these proposals won't be hugely damaging, even among the minority of our members who support best value tendering in principle. The LSC needs to understand that their proposals represent a serious threat to the whole of the criminal justice system

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