The Legal Services Commission will allow only one model of consortium in the civil bid round for 2010 legal aid contracts, it has announced.

The civil contracts tender process will not begin before September, but the LSC said it wanted to provide clarification and explanation of its current thinking, as providers seek to prepare for the tender process.

The only type of consortium it will accept will be based on the ‘separate but linked contracts’ model outlined in the consultation paper that was published in October 2009.

This means that, while consortium providers will need to work together, individual members will have their own individual contracts with the LSC, and consortium providers will have to meet certain requirements such as delivering appointments in each other’s premises.

The LSC said that only providers wanting to deliver services in debt, housing and welfare benefits can form consortia.

‘This does not pre-empt our publication of the final proposals but should ensure that unwarranted work is not carried out,’ it said.

Carol Storer, director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, said: ‘The information from the LSC has been a bit vague and people haven’t known what to do – whether they should merge or form loose partnerships.

‘It’s good they’ve made it clear that you don’t need complicated arrangements, but we are still not sure how the bids will work. More clarification is needed,’ she said.