1. Criminal Legal Aid 2014 3 March 2014
Desmond Hudson, Chief Executive Richard Miller, Head of Legal Aid

2. Introduction.

3. What we will cover Overview Headlines of the decision
What the Society will do next
Details of the announcement
What’s changed?
Timetable
Continuing questions
Questions?

4. Overview The Lord Chancellor has made his decision.
The Law Society has always opposed cuts to legal aid fees
Otterburn Reports and Oxford Economics research report
The cuts create a significant risk of serious damage to the supplier base and the CJS
The MoJ has tried to mitigate the risks, but that mitigation needs to be measured against the scale of risk identified by KPMG
There remain questions that should be answered in the implementation phase

5. Headlines (1 of 2) Cuts will come in as proposed (8.75% and 8.75%).
Unlimited own client contracts and a cap on number of duty contracts.
Top number of KPMG contracts awarded (525). Ministerial Officials wanted the minimum (325).
Consortium / Delivery Partnerships bids can be made.
The revised fee structures will be broadly as proposed in September, subject to some changes.

6. Headlines (2 of 2)
The MoJ is making tailored advice and guidance available to firms on business and IT issues.
There will be tailored packages through which firms can apply to the British Business Bank to take advantage of Enterprise Finance Guarantee.
A Legal Aid Efficiency working group is to be established.
Improved cash flow.

7. What is the Law Society doing now?
Pressing for further change.
Implementation phase
Procurement process and allocation criteria
Contract terms
Notification and verification phase
Help for our members
Roadshows and webinars
Consortium guidance
Continuing information, advice and practical support
Feeding into Sir Brian Leveson’s review of criminal procedure and MoJ’s review of the impact of these proposals

8. Detail of Announcements
525 duty contracts on offer, tailored to each procurement area
Average size of £270k in London
Average size of £400k outside London
32 procurement areas in London, 53 outside
Bidders will have to cover whole procurement area.

9. Detail of Announcements
Duty providers will NOT have a right to terminate the contract except for fault.
The Lord Chancellor will have a right to terminate without fault, subject to payment of compensation.
Firms will be required to pass a peer review during the life of the contract.

10. Detail of Announcements
There will be a single national fixed fee for police station cases but with weighting for London.
There will be simplified payment schemes in the Magistrates and Crown Court but with higher fees for not guilty pleas.
There will be new staged payments for litigators and advocates.
Cracked trial fees in either way cases where the prosecution offers no evidence will be restored.

11. What’s changed? April 2013 Now Structure
One Contract - no client choice
No separate prison law contracts
Two contacts, duty + own – client choice retained
Separate prison law contracts
No. of Contracts
400
Unlimited own client contracts duty contracts + consortium bids
Contracting Areas
42 areas.
85 areas including 32 in London and 53 outside. Some changes to the boundaries from September
Bidding Process
Price competition
Capacity and capability
Fee Cut
17.5% + bid down , from Autumn 2014
8.75% March further 8.75% in new contract in June 2015

12. What’s changed? Sep 2013 Now PS fee structure
Single national fixed fee with no escape
National fixed fees with higher fee in London and escape mechanism
MC fee structure
Single fixed fee, with escape mechanism
New structure retains case types but merges lower and higher standard fees. Escape mechanism remains
CC fee structure < 500 PPE
One Fee for all types of case.
Slightly simplified structure which retains PPE, offence type and case type, plus new cashflow payments
CC fees for cases >500 PPE
Current structure
the restoration of the cracked trial fee

13. Timetable
The first fee cut will come in during March 2014 for cases starting after that date
The tender for own client contracts will be in April 2014
The tender for duty contracts will open in July 2014
Decisions will be announced in February 2015
The new contracts will start in June 2015

14. Continuing questions
How will the procurement process work, particularly in London?
What will the terms of the new contract be?
How will police station agencies be affected?
What KPIs will be imposed?
How will duty slots be allocated?

15. Questions?