Award

2018 Standard Civil Contract: Discrimination Category of Law Note: Published for completeness, see description for details

THE LEGAL AID AGENCY

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

08 Mar 2021 at 22:56

Summary of the contracting process

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) has concluded a procurement process by awarding authorisation under the 2018 Standard Civil Contract to two providers for face-to-face Contract Work in the Discrimination Category of Law. This award, effective from 1 April 2021, allows Citizens Advice Gateshead and Stephensons Solicitors LLP to provide services specifically within the legal services industry in the UK, particularly in the North procurement area. The procurement was conducted via a limited method, without a prior call for competition, and aims to ensure that certain providers can continue offering vital legal aid services to clients in need. The process is marked as complete with formal documentation available for transparency, listing a contract value of £430,000, signed on 26 January 2021.

This opportunity is particularly beneficial for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) specialising in legal services, especially those with expertise in discrimination law. Businesses that are well-positioned to compete in this tender include law firms and legal aid providers capable of meeting the specific service delivery requirements outlined by the LAA. By participating in this contract, such organisations can expand their service offerings, enhance their client base, and contribute to important societal legal assistance efforts, thereby fostering overall business growth within the legal services sector.

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Notice Title

2018 Standard Civil Contract: Discrimination Category of Law Note: Published for completeness, see description for details

Notice Description

The Legal Aid Agency ('LAA') has awarded authorisation under the 2018 Standard Civil Contract to two providers. As a result, these providers will be able to undertake face to face Contract Work in the Discrimination Category of Law from 1 April 2021 in the LAA's 'North' Procurement Area. This contract award notice has been published for transparency purposes to provide a record of existing departmental contracts.

Lot Information

Lot 1

The Legal Aid Agency ("LAA") has awarded authorisation under the 2018 Standard Civil Contract to two providers. As a result, these providers will be able to undertake face to face Contract Work in the Discrimination Category of Law from 1 April 2021. Background In the Frequently Asked Questions published as part of its recent procurement process for 2021 Civil Legal Advice ("CLA") contracts, the LAA confirmed that CLA providers wishing to conduct Licenced Work may refer cases to themselves provided they hold a 2018 Standard Civil Contract which authorises them to carry out Licenced Work in the relevant Category of Law. It was identified that two organisations that were successful in tendering for a 2021 CLA contract were holders of a 2018 Standard Civil Contract but did not have authorisation to undertake work in the Discrimination Category of Law. This meant they would not automatically be able to self-refer CLA clients requiring Licenced Work. The CLA contracts held by these two organisations were awarded in 2018. At that time CLA provided the mandatory gateway to Discrimination advice, meaning that the CLA service was the only route to legally aided Discrimination advice. Their CLA contracts therefore permitted the full range of Controlled and Licensed Work (and face to face advice where appropriate). However, since the government announced in 2019 that it would be removing the mandatory telephone gateway, the LAA have sought to align former gateway Categories, including Discrimination, with other CLA Categories that were not subject to the mandatory telephone gateway. CLA specialist telephone advice contracts let after 2019, including those awarded as a result of the procurement process for 2021 CLA contracts, have therefore permitted Controlled Work only. In 2019, the LAA also ran a procurement to re-introduce contracts for face to face Discrimination advice under the 2018 Standard Civil Contract. The LAA has accepted that current CLA providers that were awarded a CLA contract in 2018 were in a unique position of potentially not having fully understood the impact of the 2019 contracting approach on any future CLA contract for which they tendered. Contract work awarded So that providers in this unique position were not adversely affected as a result, the LAA has awarded authorisation under the 2018 Standard Civil Contract to include authorisation to undertake Discrimination Contract Work. This award means that providers will be authorised to undertake Discrimination Contract Work in accordance with the 2018 Standard Civil Contract at the office from which they also deliver Discrimination advice under the 2021 CLA contract. Common with other Discrimination providers delivering advice under the 2018 Standard Civil Contract, providers have been awarded: * Authorisation to begin up to 100 Matter Starts per Contract Year (pro rated to 42 Matter Starts for the current Contract Year which ends on 31 August 2021); * Licensed Work authorisation; * Schedule Authorisation; and * Authorisation to use Delegated Functions. The authorisation will take effect on 1 April 2021, to align with the service commencement date for the 2021 CLA contract and will expire at the same time as other categories delivered under the 2018 Standard Civil Contract. Contract documents 2018 Standard Civil Contract documentation is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/standard-civil-contract-2018

Procurement Information

The Legal Aid Agency ("LAA") has awarded authorisation under the 2018 Standard Civil Contract to two providers. As a result, these providers will be able to undertake face to face Contract Work in the Discrimination Category of Law from 1 April 2021. Background In the Frequently Asked Questions published as part of its recent procurement process for 2021 Civil Legal Advice ("CLA") contracts, the LAA confirmed that CLA providers wishing to conduct Licenced Work may refer cases to themselves provided they hold a 2018 Standard Civil Contract which authorises them to carry out Licenced Work in the relevant Category of Law. It was identified that two organisations that were successful in tendering for a 2021 CLA contract were holders of a 2018 Standard Civil Contract but did not have authorisation to undertake work in the Discrimination Category of Law. This meant they would not automatically be able to self-refer CLA clients requiring Licenced Work. The CLA contracts held by these two organisations were awarded in 2018. At that time CLA provided the mandatory gateway to Discrimination advice, meaning that the CLA service was the only route to legally aided Discrimination advice. Their CLA contracts therefore permitted the full range of Controlled and Licensed Work (and face to face advice where appropriate). However, since the government announced in 2019 that it would be removing the mandatory telephone gateway, the LAA have sought to align former gateway Categories, including Discrimination, with other CLA Categories that were not subject to the mandatory telephone gateway. CLA specialist telephone advice contracts let after 2019, including those awarded as a result of the procurement process for 2021 CLA contracts, have therefore permitted Controlled Work only. In 2019, the LAA also ran a procurement to re-introduce contracts for face to face Discrimination advice under the 2018 Standard Civil Contract. The LAA has accepted that current CLA providers that were awarded a CLA contract in 2018 were in a unique position of potentially not having fully understood the impact of the 2019 contracting approach on any future CLA contract for which they tendered. Contract work awarded So that providers in this unique position were not adversely affected as a result, the LAA has awarded authorisation under the 2018 Standard Civil Contract to include authorisation to undertake Discrimination Contract Work. This award means that providers will be authorised to undertake Discrimination Contract Work in accordance with the 2018 Standard Civil Contract at the office from which they also deliver Discrimination advice under the 2021 CLA contract. Common with other Discrimination providers delivering advice under the 2018 Standard Civil Contract, providers have been awarded: * Authorisation to begin up to 100 Matter Starts per Contract Year (pro rated to 42 Matter Starts for the current Contract Year which ends on 31 August 2021); * Licensed Work authorisation; * Schedule Authorisation; and * Authorisation to use Delegated Functions. The authorisation will take effect on 1 April 2021, to align with the service commencement date for the 2021 CLA contract and will expire at the same time as other categories delivered under the 2018 Standard Civil Contract.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0299a9
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/004664-2021
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Limited
Procurement Method Details
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security


CPV Codes

79100000 - Legal services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£430,000 £100K-£500K

Notice Dates

Publication Date
8 Mar 20214 years ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
26 Jan 20215 years ago
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Cancelled
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
THE LEGAL AID AGENCY
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
civiltenders@justice.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1H 9AJ
Post Town
South West London
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
TLC22 Tyneside

Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
2
Supplier Names

CITIZENS ADVICE GATESHEAD

STEPHENSONS SOLICITORS

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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