Bids open next week to become the next 'delivery partner' for the government-funded LawtechUK programme, the Ministry of Justice has announced. The successful applicant will receive up to £3.016m to run the programme for two years from April 2023.

LawtechUK was set up in 2019 under Tech Nation, a government-backed 'growth platform' established in 2010. The Gazette revealed in August that phase two of the programme, which has received £4m in MoJ funding, would involve opening the running of the programme to tender. 

According to an invitation to application posted by the MoJ, the recipient of the grant will aim to:

• Help develop a culture of innovation within the legal services sector;

• Increase understanding of the benefits of lawtech in legal service providers of all sizes;

• Support the development of technology which will increase access to legal services and aim to reduce unmet legal need; and

• Help grow the legal sector’s economic contribution. 

Applicants will be expected 'to indicate examples of the types of projects they intend to deliver to meet the objectives and the process by which they will undertake them in their applications'. Work in the first phase of the programme included creating a 'sandbox' to test innovations and work on 'smarter contracts'.

The competition is open to applications from UK-based registered entities. Applications open on 2 November and the successful bidder will be notified in January, the announcement states. 

 

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