Law Society CEO slams best value tendering roll-out in conference speech
Date Published: 18-05-2009
Law Society CEO slams best value tendering roll-out in conference speech Law Society chief executive Des Hudson has slammed the Legal Services Commission’s (LSC’s) consultation on best value tendering for criminal legal aid, describing it as having potentially “profound repercussions” in his speech to the Criminal Law Solicitors Association. Des Hudson described imposing BVT in criminal legal aid as being “akin to trying to fit a square peg through a round hole,” and the effects would be felt not just by legal aid practitioners in England and Wales but also by those who rely on their services. The Law Society’s chief executive pointed out the scheme needed piloting on a broader scale, as per the reassurances made by the LSC during the first consultation for BVT. Des Hudson told the CLSA: “In spite of the Society’s conviction that BVT was unsuitable for criminal legal aid, we at least had the assurance that the scheme would be piloted, and that those pilots would be fully and comprehensively evaluated prior to any phased introduction. “When the second consultation was published in March, it was clear that something had gone badly wrong. Under the LSC timetable the entire country would be operating under BVT tenders by July 2011. “This pilot scheme is clearly not a pilot scheme. It is barely a testing ground of any kind, but instead the first part of a four stage, phased implementation process. Des Hudson, was joined by Law Society President Paul Marsh in speaking to the CLSA’s one day conference at Church House Conference Centre, London, the theme of which was Sixty Years of Legal Aid – A Cause for Celebration? Lord Bach of Lutterworth, the legal aid minister, also addressed the conference. See Des Hudson’s full speech on the Law Society’s Media Centre. Ends Journalists can contact the Law Society of England & Wales Press Office on 020 7320 5764.
