Civil news: next steps for 2018 civil contracts tender process
Organisations will be advised of the outcome of their face to face civil legal aid tenders from week beginning 19 March 2018
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) will now advise those organisations that have been successful in bidding for the remaining face to face categories:
- Family
- Welfare Benefits
- Immigration and Asylum (including Immigration Removal Centres)
- Mental Health
- Community Care
- Clinical Negligence
- Claims against Public Authorities
- Public Law
- Family Mediation
This follows the closure of tenders for face to face contracts on 10 November 2017 and the notification in January 2018 of those who were successful in bidding for face to face contracts in the Housing and Debt categories.
For completeness, the LAA will re-confirm to those who were successful in the Housing and Debt categories under the face to face contract procurement process.
Those organisations taking part in the procurement process for the Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme (HPCDS) contracts will be notified of the outcome in due course.
How will these notifications on face to face contracts be made?
The LAA will formally write to each affected organisation via the e-Tendering system, advising them of the status of their tenders, from week commencing 19 March 2018.
We anticipate that most notifications will have been sent out by Friday 30 March. Applicants who have bid for face to face contracts and have not received notification by 3 April should contact the LAA through the e-Tendering system message board.
When will services under new contracts begin?
Services under new face to face contracts will begin on 1 September 2018.
Services under new Civil Legal Advice (specialist telephone advice) contracts will also begin from 1 September 2018, and services under new Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme contracts will begin from 1 October 2018.
How long will the contracts last?
Each contract will initially run until 31 August 2021, with an option for the LAA to extend for up to a further 2 years.
What will happen next?
Following notifications, the LAA will work with organisations to complete the verification process described in the letter of notification through the Bravo system. However, organisations are reminded that the award of the contract is conditional on them satisfactorily verifying their bids.
It is the responsibility of each applicant to ensure they provide all the necessary information to evidence they meet the relevant verification requirements no later than 23:59 on 20 July 2018.
Further information
Further information about the process can be found on our tender page: