Further supplementary evidence submitted
by the Legal Services Commission (LSC)
INTRODUCTION
This memorandum addresses questions raised by
members of the Committee. We had already indicated in our memorandum
of 9 March 2004 that we would provide an analysis of the results
of the recent "bid round" for new contracts and this
we have done. It is important to realise that this analysis does
not reflect a fully settled position. Some of the contracts that
have been awarded may not be taken up—although we think
that most will—and the number of contracts will continue
to change throughout the year as we seek to use any funds that
become available to improve access to priority services. Some
contracts will not become effective until staff have been recruited
or until a Quality Mark audit has been passed.
AUDITING
What plans do you have to change the auditing
system?
1. Our overall approach to auditing focuses
on measuring the performance level of individual suppliers and
evaluating the level of risk. We assess whether the costs charged
to a case are correct and the supplier has complied with the requirements
of their contract and the Specialist Quality Mark. This is known
as Contract Compliance Audit (CCA). We also analyse other aspects
of supplier performance. These include financial information,
for example average case costs, and the Commission's rejection
or refusal of applications for legal aid certificates. These are
known as Contract Management Review Criteria (CMRC). Where our
analysis from both sets of data indicates significant levels of
risk, a Control Audit is undertaken to identify the causes of
under performance, for example overcharging and poor quality,
and develop corrective action to ensure improvements.
2. We currently pay suppliers for Legal
Help work on a case-by-case basis. During 2004-05, we are hoping
to cease detailed contract compliance auditing for the majority
of civil suppliers in most categories of Legal Help work. This
will be possible if, following consultation, we are able to bring
in changes to the charging scheme. Our intention is to maintain
suppliers' Legal Help costs per case at the same level as their
average costs per case during 2003-04. This will create a more
certain level of remuneration with no need to recoup monies after
the event as currently happens. The new scheme will be used for
one to two years before the introduction of a system of fixed
fees, graduated fees or a form of block contracting, depending
on the outcome of the current review of supply and purchasing
arrangements. Suppliers would benefit from a more certain income
and their Legal Help claims would not need to be subject to detailed
cost assessment. The scheme would effectively prevent further
inflation in Legal Help costs.
3. As a result, the focus of our audit processes
will change. We anticipate that the introduction of a fixed fee
type approach will increase the risk that suppliers may limit
the amount and quality of work they undertake in order to improve
profit levels. To ensure value for money, we will analyse a range
of data including case outcomes to assess the quality of suppliers'
performance. We will also look at the mix of suppliers' cases
to ensure that the same range of cases is being undertaken, and
at the same levels of service. Where issues are identified, these
will be explored using individual file assessment and/or peer
review processes, both of which will provide evaluations of value
for money and the quality of advice.
How does the Commission audit address quality
of service?
4. Quality of service is a combination of
good quality advice, the right processes for ensuring client care
and sound financial and managerial control. The main way in which
we currently establish quality of service is our requirement that
all suppliers delivering legal aid must achieve the Specialist
Quality Mark standard (SQM).
5. The SQM ensures a supplier creates a
well-run organisation and suitable client care practices. It also
contains a series of requirements, including appropriate supervision
and internal file review, designed to ensure good quality of advice.
In our experience, having an experienced supervisor who actively
reviews the files of other staff has been key to driving up quality
and will remain as a central feature of our approach. Nevertheless,
we consider that case outcome analysis, file assessment and peer
review provide a more direct assessment of a supplier's quality
of advice, client care and value for money. Auditing, however
detailed, of the requirements in the SQM will become unnecessary
when these newer mechanisms are fully in place.
To what extent are "outcomes" currently
measured?
6. At the conclusion of every case, the
supplier provides us with information concerning the case outcome
and type. For example, the outcome may be that a client retains
their home following representation in court in a housing possession
case. Currently, where this information raises concerns, the case
outcomes and types are explored with the supplier during a Control
Audit.
7. In 2003, we introduced a more effective
and objective outcome reporting system to enable us to carry out
more detailed analysis of case outcomes. We are now developing
a detailed analytical tool based on outcomes and other information
which will enable us to identify suppliers performing at levels
equivalent to "preferred supplier" status, where no
further auditing is necessary. We will also be able to identify
suppliers whose performance represents sufficient risk to require
an immediate peer review. For the remaining suppliers, performance
will be further analysed using an assessment of case files. This
will be followed by a Control Audit or peer review, where performance
issues remain.
How do you plan to introduce an element of "peer
review" of contract holders? How would this interrelate with
the current compliance audits? Would peer reviewers be dealing
with costs issues, quality issues or both?
8. Peer review is already being used by
the Commission in a number of ways:
— An independent process, managed by
the Institute of Legal Studies (IALS), is presently undertaking
peer reviews to establish the national benchmark for the quality
of advice. This assessment of national quality levels in all law
categories will be used to track trends over the coming years.
— Peer review is also being used to
provide a definitive assessment of suppliers' work where performance
has been assessed as "at risk".
— A separate peer review process, conducted
in-house by experienced solicitors and nationally recognised experts,
determines the quality of work and accuracy of charging. This
is currently being targeted at immigration work in London.
9. The current Contract Compliance Audit
assesses the individual cost components charged by a supplier
for Legal Help. The IALS peer review provides ratings both for
the quality of advice and value for money. It determines whether
the amount spent and the outcomes achieved, across a representative
range of a supplier's work, was good or poor value for money.
This will become a far more important assessment in the future,
when suppliers are remunerated within a fixed fee type scheme.
What categories of reports are currently required
from Legal Aid solicitors: what are the information reporting
requirements on firms on individual cases?
10. For all Legal Help cases, for example
cases which do not involve representation at court, solicitors
are required to report to the Commission monthly:
— a summary of the number of Legal
Help cases they have opened in that month, by legal category;
and
— a summary of the number of Legal
Help cases they have closed in that month, by legal category.
This summary provides information about the sub category (eg in
family cases, whether it was divorce, children private law, children
public law, domestic violence or other, and whether it involved
finance/property, children, mediation, wills or other); the time
spent on the case; the costs (split by profit cost, disbursements
and counsel); and the outcome of the case (eg client receives
lump sum payment after "further work" by the solicitor).
11. For cases involving representation in
court, an application for legal aid is made in advance, and the
Commission issues a certificate if the case meets the eligibility
and merits requirements of the scheme. Case costs are assessed
individually. Outcomes are reported using a very similar reporting
system to the one that applies to Legal Help—solicitors
are required to submit the client's file when requesting payment,
so we can ccheck that the charges claimed for work are justified.
Cases in excess of £2,500 are currently assessed by the courts.
How do you use this to monitor costs and quality?
12. From the raw data, we compile extensive
management information and produce a number of key indicators
of a supplier's performance. For example, we compare their claims
for costs over time, and with other suppliers who do similar work
and are in a comparable location. We also analyse their success
rates in applying for Funding Certificates and review any quality
concerns raised at the previous Quality Mark audit. This information
is then used to target our audit resources at suppliers who present
the highest risk to either their clients or the CLS Fund.
What information have you collected to ascertain
the cause of increases in average cost?
13. We have reviewed the data on over 2
million Legal Help claims since contracting began in 2000. This
shows that there are several factors driving the increase in average
costs. These include:
— a change in the case mix, for example
more complex and specialist cases are being undertaken;
— an improvement in the outcomes achieved
for clients;
— an increase in the payments to experts
and interpreters (disbursements);
— suppliers recording their activity
more fully; and
— the impact of pay increases for solicitors.
We consider all these factors to be acceptable
reasons for an increase in the average cost of cases. Indeed,
they reflect the policy of concentrating legal aid resources on
more serious cases. Further, it is clear that if more work is
concluded at the Legal Help level, this avoids cases going on
to more expensive legal proceedings involving representation.
However, these factors do not fully explain the increase in average
case costs for Legal Help since contracting began, which have
averaged over 10% a year until recently. In part, suppliers are
simply spending more time on the same cases. The proposal to move
to a fixed fee based on average case costs is intended to address
this directly.
Are cost compliance audits used to systematically
understand the causes of increases in costs and/or overcharging?
If so, how? What have been the results of any such analysis?
14. Cost auditing has been useful in identifying
and preventing inappropriate increases in costs. It has shown
that a significant minority of suppliers have either failed to
evidence the costs they have claimed, or are charging inappropriately.
Where this is found to be the case, detailed reports are fed back
to the supplier and monies inappropriately claimed are recovered.
15. Last year, we took management action
under the contract to restrict the number of new cases that could
be started by solicitors' firms whose average costs of Legal Help
had increased unacceptably. As a direct result of our efforts,
the rate of increase in average costs has reduced. We expect to
be able to report that the net increase in costs during 2003-04
will have remained within our target rate of 5%.
16. In addition, we have been successful
in recovering money which suppliers were not entitled to claim.
We expect this to total over £6 million in 2003-04.
RECRUITMENT AND
REMUNERATION
What information is collected on the background
of applicants for new contracts to replace those not applying?
In particular are they solicitors with previous legal aid experience,
and if so, what proportion are from firms which have given up
contracts (ie are they off-shoots setting up new practices or
existing providers which are seeking to recruit new staff and
expand)?
17. The Commission does not collect information
on individual solicitors' previous legal aid experience. Our approach
has been to contract with suppliers as businesses, rather than
individuals.
18. However, all suppliers providing, or
wishing to provide, legal aid must first be awarded the Specialist
Quality Mark (SQM). In order to meet the SQM, the firm must nominate
a supervisor who meets strict criteria relating to their knowledge
and experience within a specific law category, plus accreditation
to a Law Society panel where appropriate. The supervisor must
also be able to undertake the managerial aspects of supervision.
One of these aspects is to ensure that work is distributed within
the firm only to solicitors or fee earners who are competent to
do it. Another key aspect is internal file review, where the supervisor
is responsible for assessing the competence of advisors' work.
It is important to note that the Commission values experience
gained in dealing with private clients equally with experience
in legal aid cases.
19. When a firm applies for a contract,
or when new staff members join them, details of individual staff
who will be undertaking legal aid work are submitted to the Office
for the Supervision of Solicitors for a status check. Any adverse
information, for example relating to disciplinary matters, is
fed back to the local Commission account manager for appropriate
action.
How many solicitors (as opposed to firms) have
(a) entered into and (b) left publicly funded service since 1999?
What information do you have on the age profile of legal aid solicitors
and how does it compare to the age profile of solicitors generally?
What mechanism do you have for keeping track of the number of
solicitors who do legal aid work (as opposed to the number of
firms which do such work)?
20. We do not systematically acquire the
information needed to answer these questions. Solicitors rarely
do exclusively legal aid work or private work in the areas of
law covered by the legal aid scheme. Many legal aid firms devote
less than 30% of their available capacity to legal aid work. The
Law Society has research available on the age profile of solicitors,
but this is not differentiated by public/private work.
21. As a result of a different supplier
selection process for court and police station duty solicitors
carrying out criminal defence work, we do have more information
about this group. This confirms that the age profile of duty solicitors
has not changed since the Commission took over management of the
scheme in 2001.
22. The Commission facilitates the National
Occupational Standards project, which will provide extensive information
on all legal advisors, as opposed to solicitors' firms or not-for-profit
agencies. The project includes:
— a workforce survey establishing age,
gender, pay, qualifications and training history which takes place
April-June 2004;
— an attitudinal survey to determine
motivation and aspiration ie why people join or leave publicly
funded work; and
— an organisational survey focusing
on staff recruitment, retention and skills profile.
How many people need to be taken on per year to
keep the system going?
23. As mentioned above, solicitors and advisors
delivering publicly funded legal advice generally undertake a
mixture of legal aid, private work and work funded by other bodies.
As a result, a simple calculation of "numbers of people"
would be difficult to make with any accuracy, and would not provide
a suitable measure for evaluating the adequacy of supply. However,
the National Occupational Standards project described above will
provide some enlightening information in the future.
24. A further consideration to bear in mind
when considering the adequacy of supply is the expansion of new
initiatives and methods of delivery (such as telephone advice)
providing legal advice to the public, all of which will have a
significant impact on the availability of legal advice.
What evidence is there of the quality of recruits
into legal aid work?
25. The Commission's recent initiative to
award training grants of £7 million to legal aid firms for
new solicitor recruits does provide some indication of the supply
and quality of these new entrants. Overall, we have had no difficulty
in awarding the full number of individual grants available and
firms have reported that the quality and volume of such applicants
is high.
26. As our memorandum of 03 February 2004
explained (page 17, Funding the training of future lawyers and
advisors), we are also working with the Law Society, Young Solicitors'
Group and Legal Practice Course providers advisors to attract
high calibre candidates into legal aid work.
27. As mentioned earlier (paragraph 18),
anyone who wishes to undertake legal aid work must join an organisation
with the Specialist Quality Mark (SQM). This ensures clients receive
the quality of service and care they need from any SQM service,
whether established or newly formed. Our audit and monitoring
processes ensure that suppliers conform to the requirements within
the SQM, and do not allow for standards to be compromised by a
new service or less experienced advisors. Special focus is given
to requirements relating to advisors' competence, especially supervision,
training and file review.
28. With the introduction of peer review
and file assessment, the Commission will be able to monitor the
quality of advice directly. In addition, the creation of the national
benchmark for the quality of advice (through the IALS peer review
process), means we will better able to monitor the impact of initiatives
to improve quality of advice levels in the future.
ELIGIBILITY AND
PROVISION
What plans do you have to change the "matter
start" system?
29. When contracting was introduced, we
allocated authority to start cases primarily on the basis of historic
activity. As a first step to moving from a demand-led system to
a needs-driven system, we made a shift in the funding of social
welfare law cases so that it was weighted towards Income Support
Claimants.
30. We are currently considering allocating
case starts based on a General Eligibility Model. This takes into
account a basket of indicators, for example the number of benefits
claimants, to help determine the appropriate distribution of funding
across geographical areas.
31. We are in the process of conducting
a fundamental review of our purchasing and supply arrangements
and expect to pilot a number of different delivery models during
the next two years to help determine whether the current contracting
system remains the most efficient method of buying capacity. However
it is inevitable that, in the context of a fixed budget, the allocation
of funds and the basis for payment under contracts must be linked
to the number of clients assisted.
What spare capacity has there been in "matter
starts" since their introduction? What is this in percentage
terms? Was spare capacity evenly spread around the country?
32. Since the introduction of contracting
in 2000, as a general rule there have always been sufficient case
starts available nationally to ensure a reasonable spread across
all regions in all priority categories of law. There will always
be pockets where, at a particular point in time, demand exceeds
supply for various reasons. For example, a solicitor who runs
out of "matter starts" in debt at a certain point in
the year may be refused additional matter starts because either
alternative supply exists nearby (in another solicitors' office
or with a not-for-profit agency) or because debt is not considered
to be a sufficiently high priority in that location at that time.
Last year we refused increases in "matter starts" to
firms with very high average costs or who had over-claimed substantially.
Also, in a controlled budget environment, sometimes choices have
to be made which may restrict access for certain categories of
law that are considered not to be as high a priority as other
categories.
33. On average, solicitor firms start no
more than 90% of their authorised number of cases. The resulting
spare capacity has occurred in an even spread throughout the country.
In 2003-04, we provided capacity for solicitors' firms to start
534,000 cases and, when the final figures are available, we expect
them to have started about 473,000 cases. This fell below our
expectations, and our objective this year is to increase the number
of clients helped in priority categories of law.
COSTS
Are revised figures provided by JUSTICE correct?
34. The revised figures provided by Justice
in pages 8-13 of their written submission dated 06/04/2004 are
drawn from our annual reports, and are correct.
What breakdown is made of categories of expense
on civil legal aid and (a) by area of work and (b) by type of
work done by each area?
35. This information is contained in our
annual reports. In our Annual Report 2002-03:
— Overall payments for the CLS, CDS
and Commission are on page 2.
— Bills paid in family proceedings
by type (eg Domestic Violence) in table CLS 6 on page 24.
— Bills paid in civil non-family proceedings
by category (eg Housing) in table CLS 8 on page 28.
The Legal Service Commission Annual Report 2002-03
is available via our website at the following location: http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/about_us/annual_report_2002-03.pdf
ALTERNATIVE PROVISION
Who does the Commission see as providing telephone/internet
services?
36. We are employing the same strategy of
mixed provision for telephone advice as we do for other advice
services. Contractors for the national telephone service are being
selected through competitive tendering, from a field of organisations
including solicitor firms, Citizens Advice Bureaux, Law Centres,
other advice agencies and commercial call centre organisations.
All candidates will be required to hold or achieve the SQM standard.
37. Just Ask!, the website of the Community
Legal Service, is managed by Commission staff. The legal content
on the website has been commissioned from independent experts.
What types of services will be provided, in what
geographical areas, and in what subject areas?
38. The new CLS telephone service will provide
legal advice and ongoing casework by phone and correspondence
to clients who are eligible for public funding. The service will
be launched in July with three categories of law—Debt, Education
and Welfare Benefits—available to eligible clients anywhere
in England and Wales. We are also looking at how we might integrate
advice in the family category into the national telephone service
in the future.
39. In addition to the national telephone
service, we will continue to fund telephone advice in a number
of categories in particular areas of the country, and hope to
include these categories within the national system when more
resources are available for additional caseworkers. Examples of
this continuing telephone advice include:
— Employment advice—North East,
Yorkshire & Humberside, West Midlands, Eastern, and parts
of Dorset, Somerset and Devon.
— Housing advice—Wales, North
East, Yorkshire & Humberside, West Midlands, Eastern, North
Kent and parts of Dorset, Somerset and Devon.
— Housing and planning law advice line
for travellers and gypsies.
40. Internet advice services are, of course,
available in all areas where people can access an internet-enabled
computer, for example in an increasing number of libraries and
community centres. We publicise the Just Ask! website in a wide
range of this type of location and around 1.5 million people access
the site annually.
Are trained staff available?
41. The CLS national telephone service will
launch with a total of approximately 40 advisers. Rather than
try to establish a large contract with a single provider who would
staff the whole service from one location, we have chosen to contract
with a number of different organisations to provide advice in
each category of law. The tendering process was significantly
over-subscribed.
42. One of the advantages of this chosen
model of provision is that recruitment for advisers will take
place in a number of locations around the UK, rather than being
concentrated in a single area. The ability to successfully recruit
new, skilled staff was a criterion in the selection of contractors
and these services will seek to recruit staff who already have
significant experience in the relevant category of law. In the
event that an individual agency is unable to recruit fully trained
staff to all posts, new staff will be required to reach the required
standard before they begin to deal with front line calls.
CURRENT BIDDING
Could you please provide a spreadsheet containing
the following information (in electronic form) for each region
and each bid zone:
— the number of contracts and matter
starts in each work category for the year to April 2004;
— the number of contracts and matter
starts for the year April 2004-05; and
— the CLSP/RLSC assessment of need
for those bid zones.
43. We have provided, with the electronic
version of this memorandum, a spreadsheet which sets out:
— for solicitors' firms, the number
of contracts and matter starts in each category of law for 2003-04
and 2004-05;
— for not-for-profit agencies, the
number of contracts and the number of casework hours in each category
of law for 2003-04 and 2004-05. It is important to note that existing
not-for-profit contracts do not expire until 31 March 2006, and
were not subject to the bid round. However, not-for-profit agencies
were allowed to compete for new contracts or additional funding.
A printed copy of the spreadsheet is also attached
to this memorandum (not printed).
44. The spreadsheet gives this information
at national level and by region, but not by bid zone. The size
of the spreadsheet that would be needed to provide that information
would preclude its being sent by email or copied on to a disk.
We will be happy to provide information for any specific bid zone
on request.
45. The spreadsheet does not include information
about CLSP/RLSC assessments of need for legal services. These
are presented in text for the most part, and are not easily rendered
as part of a spreadsheet. In paragraphs 7-10 of our principal
evidence to the Committee (dated 3 February 2004), we explain
the way in which Regional Legal Services Committees assess need
and report to the Commission. Appendices 1 to 6 to our principal
evidence are illustrative copies of the relevant reports and of
the Commission's Contracting Strategies, which draw upon them.
Could you confirm that initial statistics which
you provided to the Committee, namely that 90% of current providers
had bid and that the remainder who did not bid were made up for
by new bids, are still correct. I would be grateful if you could
provide a detailed breakdown of that 10% of new prospective bidders
between (a) those who are current providers and (b) those who
are new bidders; and of the latter the extent to which "new
bidders" are made up of practitioners who have previously
held a legal aid contract. It would also be helpful to know the
extent to which the bids which had been made were taken up and
whether the firms had taken up their full allocation of matter
starts.
46. The information provided to the Committee
previously concerned those who had applied to join the bid panel
to renew their contracts, and we confirm it was accurate. Not
all those who registered on the panel eventually submitted a bid,
and not all bidders were awarded contracts. Hence the need to
await the actual offer and acceptance of contracts in order to
report meaningfully on the position.
47. We have now carried out a preliminary
analysis of the results of the bidding round for new contracts
to run from 1 April 2004. The analysis covers the number of contracts
awarded compared to the number before the bidding round, the number
of matter starts made available, and, for each region, progress
in addressing any gaps in the provision of legal services identified
by Regional Legal Services Committees. Although we intend to conduct
further analysis, we believe it is already clear that the bid
round has been broadly successful in meeting its aims. These were,
in summary:
— to provide an opportunity for new
suppliers to bid for contracts and for existing suppliers to bid
to expand into new categories of law. We record contract numbers
by category of law, and some solicitors' firms have contracts
in more than one category, and may have more than one office with
different contracts. As part of the bidding round, we awarded
new Legal Help contracts covering:
182 categories of law to suppliers who did not
have previously have any contract.
123 categories of law to suppliers who previously
held contracts which only allowed them to provide civil representation.
313 categories of law to suppliers with an existing
Legal Help contract in another category.
— to award contracts to meet the priorities
identified by Regional Legal Services Committees. Overall, good
progress has been made in this respect, and we set out a summary
of the position for each region of England and Wales at paragraphs
48 to 59 below;
— to focus funding on organisations
that provide the best quality of service whilst maintaining sufficient
access. The Regional Contracting Strategies (paragraph 45) show
the ways in which this objective was to be achieved, using the
criteria in the bid rules. The immigration bid round in London
was a particular success on these terms - see paragraphs 48 to
51 below and Appendix II; and
— to ensure that, by April 2004, the
solicitors' firms that have performed least well in Contract Compliance
Audits (see paragraph 46 above) have either ceased to participate
in the civil legal aid scheme, or do so only on the basis of a
temporary contract. This objective has been met.
NUMBERS OF
CONTRACTS
48. It was not an explicit aim of the bid
round to increase overall numbers of contracts. Indeed, numbers
of contracts were sometimes deliberately reduced in order to concentrate
funding on those suppliers who best met the criteria. This was
particularly the case in Central London, where in many categories
of law there were more suppliers than necessary in order to ensure
access, and where the existing work has now been reallocated to
fewer firms.
49. Table 1 below is taken from the spreadsheet,
and shows the total number of contracts awarded to solicitors'
firms and not-for-profit agencies in each category of law for
2004-05, compared to the total numbers existing at the end of
2003-04.
50. It is important to realise that the
table does not reflect a fully settled position. Some of the contracts
that have been awarded may not be taken up—although we think
that most will. So far, we are aware of around 50 contracts that
have been refused by the organisations to which they were offered.
51. The number of contracts will continue
to change throughout the year. We will seek to use any funds that
become available from contracts that have been awarded but not
taken up, or which become available during the year, to improve
access to priority services outlined in Regional Legal Services
Committee reports, as described in paragraph 33 of our principal
written evidence dated 03 February 2004.
Table 1
NUMBERS OF
CONTRACTS 2003-04 AND
2004-05
52. The table shows that, except for personal
injury, clinical negligence and immigration (to which special
considerations apply—see paragraphs 57 to 59 below), the
overall number of contracts with solicitors' firms and not-for-profit
agencies is potentially the same after the bid round as before
it, with a small reduction in the number of contracts for solicitors'
firms and a corresponding increase in the number for not-for-profit
agencies.
53. There will potentially be increases
(and, in the case of housing and debt law, significant increases)
in the numbers of contracts for:
— Actions against the Police etc.
54. The figures show a potential overall
reduction of about 3 to 4% in the number of Family law contracts.
This is partly because we decided to reduce the number of family
contracts in some metropolitan areas (whilst leaving adequate
provision) and to channel funds to meet RLSC priorities. In the
Eastern Region in particular, however, we are concerned about
the potential access problems that may be caused by Family solicitors
leaving the scheme. The regional office will be working to resolve
this issue throughout 2004-05.
55. The number of Mental Health contracts
has potentially reduced by around 33. We will work with Community
Legal Service Partnerships and Regional Legal Services Committees
to understand the impact that this may have on access to legal
services, but overall, we believe that organisations with contracts
have the capacity to meet the current level of demand. A number
of contracted organisations in the London region have already
expressed their willingness to expand their services, for example.
Clearly, we will need to keep the position under careful review
given the potential expansion of Tribunal work due to anticipated
further legislation.
56. In both Family and Mental Health categories,
the number of organisations bidding for contracts significantly
exceeded the number with contracts, and, if necessary, we will
work with organisations that were unsuccessful in the bidding
round to help them meet the requirements for a contract.
57. The number of immigration contracts
fell. This was almost entirely due to our policy of significantly
reducing the number of contractors in London. The number of asylum
seekers has halved, and the reduced need for services gave us
the opportunity of removing significant numbers of poor quality
solicitors' firms —see paragraphs 65 to 66 below.
58. We are not concerned by the drop in
the number of personal injury contracts, as this represents merely
the winding down of work in a category of law which is no longer
generally within the scope of the legal aid scheme.
59. The figures for 2003-04 contracts will
include a number of contracts that were no longer active, where
for example the supplier had ceased carrying out new legal aid
work but was still being paid for bills on old cases. We think
this is particularly true of clinical negligence, where we are
satisfied that the current number of contracts is adequate given
the highly specialised nature of the work.
MATTER STARTS
60. In looking at the supply of legal aid
services, the key indicator is number of cases started, rather
than necessarily numbers of contracts. Table 2 below is taken
from the spreadsheet at Appendix II. It shows, for solicitors'
firms, the number of new Legal Help cases that can be started
and, for not-for-profit agencies, the number of hours of casework
that can be carried out under the contract. In each case, an estimate
of the actual amount of work that will be done in 2003-04 is compared
with the amount of work awarded in contracts for 2004-05.
61. As for Table 1 above, the figures in
the table depend on contracts that have been awarded being taken
up. And, again, the position will change throughout the year.
Table 2
MATTER STARTS
2003-04 AND 2004-05
62. The table shows that the overall number
of matter starts awarded to solicitors' firms for 2004-05 is greater
than the number that are likely to be started in 2003-04, and
that the overall number of hours that can be worked by not-for-profit
agencies in 2004-05 is greater than the number that are likely
to be worked in 2003-04. It is important not to be misled by the
apparent drop in matter starts awarded in individual categories
of law. This is because we award a certain number of matter starts
in what is called "tolerance". These can be done in
any category of law. Hence the 39,028 matter starts awarded in
tolerance for 2004-05 will be reported as actual starts either
in specific categories of law or as miscellaneous. Nor do we award
specific numbers of matter starts for either personal injury or
clinical negligence. Suppliers merely report these to us as they
are used.
63. Many of the new contracts let in the
bid round have not yet become effective (see above) and therefore
do not yet have matter starts attributed to them. There are around
51,000 matter starts promised to new contractors not immediately
able to commence business or awaiting the award of the SQM, in
addition to the number already awarded.
64. Extra funding (representing around 150,000
hours work) has been committed to the Not-for Profit sector as
part of the bid round. The total funding now committed to that
sector should provide around 185,000 matter starts per year.
65. The number of cases allocated has been
reduced as a matter of policy for immigration law (because of
the reduced numbers of asylum seekers), consumer law (because
of the relatively low priority of this category of work) and tolerance
(as our view, supported by independent research, is that clients
are generally better served if a specialist does the work).
66. Nevertheless, we have now given authority
to our regional offices to authorise, if necessary, up to a further
39,000 matter starts to priority areas in addition to the 51,000
described in paragraph 63 above. To an extent, capacity to carry
out this work already exists (for example through those suppliers
who indicated as part of their bid form that they were willing
to take on more cases) but regions will also need to work with
suppliers to build up capacity where necessary.
Finally, would it be possible for the Commission
to identify whether the current bidding round will have rectified
any of the gaps identified in the recent Citizens Advice paper;
and could you confirm whether the number of matter starts issued
by the Commission are expected to return to the levels issued
in 2002-03?
67. We provide below an analysis of the
position for each of the regions of England and Wales following
the recent bidding round. As we have explained before, our framework
for evaluation is based on the gaps in service and priorities
for funding identified in Regional Legal Services Committee reports.
68. The position overall is positive, and
can be summarised in this way: in eight of our regions, we have
made significant progress in meeting priority gaps identified
by Regional Legal Services Committees by letting new contracts,
whilst at the same time no significant new gaps in service have
so far appeared. These are London, Merseyside, North West, North
East, Wales, East Midlands, West Midlands and South East. In the
Eastern region, there was progress in meeting priority gaps in
housing, debt, welfare benefits, employment and community care,
but there is concern over the decline in family supply. In Yorkshire
and Humberside, there has been some progress in meeting priority
gaps, but a gap has appeared in immigration in Hull. In the South
West, there has been limited progress in meeting priority gaps,
but little evidence of any new gaps appearing.
69. The number of matter started in 2002-03
is set out in Table 3 below. The overall number of matters started
in categories of law other than immigration, personal injury and
clinical negligence was 537,367. This is more than the 482,725
so far awarded for 2004-05, but less than the overall amount that
we have agreed to make available, when the 51,000 extra matter
starts described in paragraph 63. and the further 39,000 described
in paragraph 66 are taken into account.
Table 3
YEARLY TOTALS
2002-03
|
| Yearly Totals | Year 02-03
|
|
| Actions Against the Police | 5,453
|
| Community Care | 2,536
|
| Consumer | 6,835
|
| Debt | 21,743
|
| Education | 2,769
|
| Employment | 8,145
|
| Housing | 64,002
|
| Immigration-Asylum | 101,958
|
| Immigration-Non Asylum | 40,315
|
| Family | 338,476
|
| Mental Health | 28,363
|
| Miscellaneous | 22,645
|
| Public Law | 1,787
|
| Welfare Benefits | 34,613
|
| Personal Injury | 5,782
|
| Clinical Negligence | 4,583
|
| Total | 690,005
|
|
Legal Services Commission
21 April 2004
| |
| 
