A conference organised by the Advice Services Alliance contained some blunt messages for the Legal Services Commission and its master, the Ministry of Justice. Those messages came from legal aid suppliers charged with delivering a quality service to those faced with social welfare problems – the numbers of whom are set to expand with the recession.

In October 2008 the LSC launched a consultation paper on the new civil contract, which will alter significantly the bid criteria and process for awarding civil legal aid contracts. The government wants legal services to be delivered more cheaply by fewer, larger organisations.

Contracts will be awarded to firms that can deliver bundles of services on a range of subjects. The government suggests that law firms, not-for-profit agencies and others should merge or form consortia to be able to bid for work. The new contracts are scheduled to run from April 2010, with bidding from September. The timetable from consultation to implementation is tight.

One conference workshop looked at what the LSC is doing to support practitioners to ensure ‘provide readiness’, as the LSC calls it, while identifying IT and other training needs.

But the cry from delegates was for more details of the contract requirements, fee rates and the regulatory implications of forming consortia – and, above all, for more time.

The consensus among those present was that the profession accepts that it needs to be ready for reform, but remains unsure what it is supposed to be ready for. And among practitioners, the sense of urgency is mounting.