--- title: "Specialist Quality Mark Auditing Services Agreement" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-05251a" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-05251a" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05251a.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05251a.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "LEGAL AID AGENCY" published: "2025-05-23" --- # Specialist Quality Mark Auditing Services Agreement Buyer: LEGAL AID AGENCY Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-05251a [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-05251a) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05251a.json) ## Summary The Legal Aid Agency (LAA), a central government public authority in the United Kingdom, is in the planning phase of a tender process for the Specialist Quality Mark (SQM) Auditing Services Agreement. This procurement aims to secure a licensee to administer SQM on behalf of the LAA, ensuring that Legal Services Providers maintain high organisational quality standards. The contract is set to commence on 1 October 2027 and conclude on 30 September 2031, covering the legal services industry across the UK. Interested parties should note the future notice date for this tender is 31 August 2026, and the total contract value is £2,375,000. This process is classified under the 'services' procurement category, specifically targeting legal services, and follows a light-touch regime. Businesses specialising in auditing and quality assurance within the legal sector could significantly benefit from tendering for this opportunity. The contract offers a unique chance to directly influence the quality standards of legal services providers, thereby potentially expanding the market share and enhancing the reputation of the SQM through strategic delivery and marketing efforts. The suitability criteria encourage participation by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as voluntary and community sector enterprises (VCSEs), making it a valuable prospect for organisations in these categories aiming to grow within the legal services market. ## Notice The Legal Aid Agency ("LAA") is inviting Applicants to tender for a concession contract ("Contract") to administer the LAA's Specialist Quality Mark ("SQM"), from 1 October 2027.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 the SQM, or equivalent standard (e.g. Lexcel), is a requirement for Legal Services Providers that have, or are seeking to have, a contract with the LAA for the provision of legal advice funded through legal aid. The LAA intends to enter into contract with one (1) organisation to administer the LAA's SQM under a licence. On the LAA's behalf, the Licensee will provide the SQM Services, which include auditing and assessing Legal Services Providers that apply for SQM accreditation.This is an opportunity to administer the SQM on the LAA's behalf directly to the legal services market. There may also be opportunities for the Licensee to grow market share through delivering excellent value for money to Legal Services Providers, effective marketing or further developing the reputation of the SQM. The Licensee will be paid for the Services they provide directly by the Legal Services Providers in line with the maximum prices submitted in thisconcession contract award procedure (referred to hereafter as "this procurement process"). For the avoidance of doubt, the Licensee will not be entitled to any payment from the LAA under any circumstances. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/027139-2025 | | Notice type | UK1 - Pipeline Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Not Specified | | Procurement method details | Not specified | | Tender suitability | SME, VCSE | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Planning | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 23 May 2025 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 31 Aug 2026 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 30 Sep 2027 - 30 Sep 2031 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £2,375,000 | | 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 | 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 - 79100000 - Legal services ## Release History - 23 May 2025 at 17:22 - Planning - UK1 - Pipeline Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/027139-2025 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/027139-2025 23rd May 2025 - Pipeline notice on Find a Tender ## Notice URLs - https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/legal-aid-agency - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents ## 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-05251a. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05251a.json.