---
title: "Specialist Quality Mark from April 2017"
ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-6510ab83-7de3-4a57-9be8-e9c83f03ee2d"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-6510ab83-7de3-4a57-9be8-e9c83f03ee2d"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-6510ab83-7de3-4a57-9be8-e9c83f03ee2d.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-6510ab83-7de3-4a57-9be8-e9c83f03ee2d.json"
source: "Contracts Finder"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "LEGAL AID AGENCY"
published: "2017-01-19"
---

# Specialist Quality Mark from April 2017

Buyer: LEGAL AID AGENCY  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-b5fd17-6510ab83-7de3-4a57-9be8-e9c83f03ee2d

[View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-6510ab83-7de3-4a57-9be8-e9c83f03ee2d)  
[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-6510ab83-7de3-4a57-9be8-e9c83f03ee2d.json)

## Summary

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is conducting a procurement process for the contract to administer the Specialist Quality Mark (SQM) starting from 1 April 2017. This initiative targets the legal services sector, specifically for organisations that deliver publicly funded legal advice. The procurement process, which is currently in the Award stage, has a total contract value of £1,800,000 and commenced with the tender period ending on 30 September 2016. The contract is set to run until 1 April 2020, and submissions were invited from potential suppliers as part of the LAA’s aim to uphold the quality standards required for legal services providers operating in the UK and overseas.

This tender presents a significant business opportunity for companies specialising in legal services quality assurance and accreditation. Firms with expertise in accounting, auditing, and fiscal services would be particularly well-suited to compete for these contracts, ensuring compliance with recognised quality standards whilst providing assurance of service excellence. By winning this contract, a business can enhance its visibility and reputation within the legal services sector, contributing to its overall growth and success in delivering high-quality advisory services.

## Notice

The Legal Aid Agency ("LAA") invited Applicants to tender for a contract to administer the LAA's Specialist Quality Mark ("SQM"), from 1 April 2017. The SQM is the LAA's organisational quality standard designed to ensure that Legal Services Providers are well run and provide good client care. The SQM gives assurance regarding the quality of advice in several ways which, whilst not direct measures of quality are fundamental to reliable delivery of a quality service and therefore are fundamentally important to the delivery of legal aid services. Compliance with a recognised quality standard (currently either the SQM Specialist Quality Mark or Lexcel, The Law Society's practice management standard) is a requirement for providers of legal services that have, or are seeking to obtain, an LAA contract to deliver publically funded legal advice services. The LAA launched the procurement process with the purpose of awarding a contract for the delivery of the SQM service from April 2017.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Contracts Finder |
| Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/1b9913e1-d4b7-4448-b73d-b10d0ad51ff1 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Not Specified |
| Procurement method details | Other - |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 19 Jan 2017 |
| Submission deadline | 30 Sep 2016 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 4 Jan 2017 |
| Contract period | 31 Mar 2017 - 1 Apr 2020 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £1,800,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £1,800,000 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | LEGAL AID AGENCY |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | South West London |
| Postcode | SW1H 9AJ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West |
| ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London |
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Electoral ward | St James's |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | RECOGNISING EXCELLENCE |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 79200000 - Accounting, auditing and fiscal services

## Release History

- 19 Jan 2017 at 19:22 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/1b9913e1-d4b7-4448-b73d-b10d0ad51ff1

## Documents

- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/1b9913e1-d4b7-4448-b73d-b10d0ad51ff1
  19th January 2017 - Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder
- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/specialist-quality-mark-tender-2016
  SQM Tender Documents

## Notice URLs

- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/legal-aid-agency

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-6510ab83-7de3-4a57-9be8-e9c83f03ee2d. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-6510ab83-7de3-4a57-9be8-e9c83f03ee2d.json.