The Law Society has welcomed the Legal Services Commission's decision to open a further tender for licence-only family and family and housing work.

The LSC said that whilst well over 90% of applicants completed the tender successfully, and the vast majority of existing family contracted providers have been offered the new contract which takes effect on 1 February 2012, a number of providers were unsuccessful, due to mistakes with their bid forms. The LSC had previously communicated that, to ensure equality of treatment for all applicants, they would be unable to intervene in the tender process, to point out to providers, or correct, any errors they may have made.

The LSC has therefore agreed that it will open a further tender for licence-only Family and Family & Housing work; with contracts awarded through that tender to take effect from 1st April 2012.  This will represent a final opportunity for providers who were unsuccessful due to bid form mistakes in the first tender to obtain a contract to carry out licensed work.

The LSC, The Law Society, LAPG and Resolution believe that this approach represents a sensible way forward. It allows those providers who would otherwise have been facing an uncertain future the chance to continue providing publicly funded work for the benefit of families and children, while considering their longer term plans in light of the reforms to legal aid.

All parties are pleased that the process of reaching this agreement has been a constructive one, with all sides showing a strong commitment to seek a mutually acceptable solution.

Read the full article in Family Law Week