2015 Own Client Verification
2015 Own Client Verification
On 13 November the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) announced its intention that services under the new 2015 crime contracts will start on 1 April 2016 rather than 11 January, as previously planned.
That means that all 2015 Own Client contracts will commence on 1 April 2016.
It is their intention to commence with the plans for two tier in areas where it is viable however this will depend on the outcome of the on-going litigation. In any areas where it is not possible to implement two tier then the LAA intend to offer duty work to holders of the 2015 Own Client contract.
On Wednesday 25 November the LAA are contacting all organisations who successfully tendered for a 2015 Own Client Contract but who have not yet been asked to verify their tenders. They will request the information needed to verify Own Client tenders, which is necessary so that organisations are ready to start work under the 2015 Own Client Contract from the revised intended contract start date of 1 April 2016.
The deadline for submitting the information is 23:59 on 8 December 2015.
Organisations that do not hold a 2010 crime contract, but have been offered a 2015 Own Client Contract, will be offered the opportunity to undertake own client work onlybetween 11 January 2016 and 31 March 2016 provided they submit all the information required by the deadline for verification (23.59 on 8 December 2015).
Organisations that submit the necessary information to successfully verify their tender and who are eligible to be offered a contingency extension will have contract documents available to execute via the LAA’s Controlled Work and Administration (‘CWA’) system in time for 11 January.
Information requested
Verification requests sent on 25 November will be issued via the eTendering message system and will specify the information each organisation must provide to verify their tender.
Own Client verification began in late October for organisations that successfully bid for a 2015 Duty Provider Crime Contract in addition to an Own Client Contract. The LAA will write to these organisations again to request they provide a compliant Supervisor Declaration Form.
Duty Solicitor Work 1st April 2016
As announced on 13 November, it is the intention of the LAA to implement Duty Provider Crime Contracts from 1 April 2016 where viable.
In procurement areas where this is not viable they will produce contingency duty rotas to ensure the necessary duty provider coverage. They will do this by allocating duty work to organisations who have signed Own Client Contracts through a contingency variation to that contract.
If an organisation wishes to be included on a contingency duty rota from 1 April it should submit its Own Client verification information before by 23:59 on 8 December 2015 to allow the Legal Aid Agency to issue Own Client Contracts with a contingency variation for execution.
The LAA will write to organisations separately with details of the eligibility criteria and method of allocation of duty slots in any procurement areas where it is not viable to implement Duty Provider Contracts on 1 April.
Zoe Gascoyne
Chair CLSA