---
title: "Legal Aid Agency's Specialist Quality Mark (SQM)"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-02bf8f"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-02bf8f"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02bf8f.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02bf8f.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "THE LEGAL AID AGENCY"
published: "2021-06-23"
---

# Legal Aid Agency's Specialist Quality Mark (SQM)

Buyer: THE LEGAL AID AGENCY  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-02bf8f

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## Summary

The Legal Aid Agency, an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Justice, is planning to procure services to administer its Specialist Quality Mark (SQM) scheme, which is a quality standard for legal service providers in England and Wales. The procurement process is in the planning stage and is expected to involve services over a maximum period of five years starting from 1 April 2022, with a total value of £2,500,000. Interested parties are urged to register for an online market engagement session by 7 July 2021, as full details of the tender will be available in the invitation to tender.

This opportunity is particularly suited for businesses that specialise in compliance auditing and quality assurance related to legal services. Companies with experience in assessing and advising on legal practice standards, specifically those familiar with the Specialist Quality Mark and the Law Society's Lexcel standard, will find this tender relevant. Engaging with the Legal Aid Agency could lead to substantial business growth given the ongoing demand for high-quality legal service provision across the UK.

## Notice

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). It works with providers of legal services to ensure fair, prompt and effective access to civil and criminal legal aid and advice in England and Wales. LAA would like to engage the service of a provider to administer its Specialist Quality Mark (SQM) scheme. The SQM is the organisational quality standard owned by the LAA but delivered under licence and services delivered under contract will be directly chargeable from legal services providers. The purpose of the SQM is to ensure providers of legal services are well managed, provide good levels of client care and have appropriate systems in place to ensure delivery of good quality advice. Compliance with the SQM, or the Law Society's equivalent standard Lexcel, is a requirement for legal services providers that have, or are seeking to have, a contract with the LAA. The service, which involves auditing and assessing legal services providers who apply for SQM accreditation, will be delivered across England and Wales. We anticipate that services under contract are likely to be required for a maximum of 5 years from 1 April 2022. To register to attend an on-line market engagement session, interested organisations should email civil.tenders@justice.gov.uk by no later than 7 July 2021. Full detail of the procurement process will be detailed in the invitation to tender.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) would like to engage the service of a provider to deliver the Specialist Quality Mark (SQM) scheme. The SQM is the organisational quality standard owned by the LAA but delivered under licence. Its purpose is to ensure providers of legal services are well managed, provide good levels of client care and have appropriate systems in place to ensure delivery of good quality advice. Compliance with the SQM, or the Law Society's equivalent standard Lexcel, is a requirement for legal services providers that have, or are seeking to have, a contract with the LAA. The service, which involves auditing and assessing legal services providers who apply for SQM accreditation, will be delivered across England and Wales. The purpose of this Prior Information Notice is to engage with possible providers to discuss various arrangements for the service. Organisations interested in this procurement opportunity are asked to email LAA (civil.tenders@justice.gov.uk) to register to attend an on-line market engagement event. Organisations should register by no later than 7 July 2021. The market engagement session is expected to take place in July 2021. Full detail of the procurement process will be detailed in the invitation to tender.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/014364-2021 |
| Notice type | Planning Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Not Specified |
| Procurement method details | Not specified |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Planning |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 23 Jun 2021 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 22 Jun 2021 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £2,500,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Planned |
| Lots status | Planned |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | THE 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 |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 79210000 - Accounting and auditing services

## Release History

- 23 Jun 2021 at 21:45 - Planning - Planning Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/014364-2021

## 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-h6vhtk-02bf8f. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02bf8f.json.