Quality inspections for publicly funded criminal defence advocates are on the horizon under plans unveiled by the Legal Services Commission (LSC) this week. The commission said it would test a ‘quality assurance scheme’ on some 250 barristers and solicitors at Crown Courts from February next year.

The idea is designed to preserve the quality of advocacy in the face of pressures from best-value tendering. However, the Law Society questioned whether the scheme would justify the bureaucracy and cost.

The scheme is being developed in collaboration with the Law Society, Bar Council, Solicitors Regulation Authority, Bar Standards Board, the Crown Prosecution Service and members of the judiciary.

The professional development unit at Cardiff Law School will test a range of different assessment methods, which are yet to be finalised. Pilots will take place at courts in Birmingham, Cardiff, Inner London and Winchester.

LSC chief executive Carolyn Regan said: ‘Any final scheme would ensure that all advocates acting for defendants under legal aid - both barristers and solicitors - were quality assured against common, comprehensive competencies.

‘The scheme would also complement an advocate’s professional development and career progression.’

Avtar Bhatoa, immediate past chairman of the Solicitors Association of Higher Court Advocates, said: ‘It will remove the opportunity for unfounded allegations, particularly from the bar, that solicitor-advocates are not as competent as barristers.’

Raymond Shaw, president of the London Courts Criminal Solicitors Association, said: ‘We hope to see all advocates - both solicitors and barristers - fairly judged on their experience and ability, and this scheme should do that.’

Richard Miller, head of legal aid at the Law Society, said Chancery Lane supports the principle, but solicitors, unlike the bar, already had to ‘jump through many hoops’ before undertaking legal aid work, with additional requirements before they could conduct Crown Court advocacy. ‘It is debatable whether any further measures applied to solicitor-advocates would deliver noticeable improvements for clients, sufficient to justify the additional cost and bureaucracy any scheme would entail.’

Anyone interested in taking part in the pilot should email Legal Services at qaa@legalservices.gov.uk.