Written question asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Bach (Labour) on Tuesday, 21 July 2009.

Legal Aid

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to any negative impacts of a best value tendering approach for legal aid services.

Answer: I refer the noble Lord to my Written Ministerial Statement of 20 July in which I announced the publication of the Legal Services Commission's (LSC) response to consultation on best value tendering of criminal defence services. The LSC will proceed to pilot BVT as planned in Manchester and Avon & Somerset. However, the LSC has listened carefully to concerns raised by those responding to the consultation and has been persuaded that there is a strong case for delaying the wider implementation of BVT until at least 2013 to enable a full evaluation of the impact in the two pilot areas. A copy of the consultation response and accompanying impact assessment has been placed in the House Library. The documents are also available on the consultation section of the LSC website at www.legalservices.gov.uk.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 4938; 712 c347WA
Session: 2008-09
Related items: Legal Aid
Monday, 20 July 2009
Written statements
House of Lords
Subjects: Contracts Criminal proceedings Cost effectiveness Legal aid scheme
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk