A London law centre has admitted bidding for mental health work even though it had no experience in the field, but claimed it needed to diversify ‘in order to survive’.

Following the result of the Legal Services Commission’s recent mental health tender exercise, lawyers claimed that some providers that had never done mental health work were given contracts after putting in speculative bids.

Clara Connolly, senior solicitor at North Kensington Law Centre, told a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Legal Aid last week that the centre had done exactly that. Although many of its clients have mental issues, the centre has not had a mental health contract with the LSC before.

Connolly said: ‘We put in a speculative bid because no one else in our area was doing the work and we felt we had to put in bids for all areas of work to make ourselves viable. We’re going to have to learn on the job. But that’s what people do in order to survive – they diversify.’

Connolly told the Gazette: ‘It’s a response to getting fewer matter starts than are viable, but it’s also about meeting the unmet need in our area.’

She said the centre should not have had to take the action it did, but it was a consequence of the LSC’s payment and contracting arrangements.

Richard Charlton, chair of the Mental Health Lawyers Association, said North Kensington Law Centre has a good reputation and he had ‘great sympathy’ with providers struggling under the fixed-fee regime.

But he added: ‘The idea that people are coming in on a speculative basis to then learn on the job is of concern. Mental health work is very specialised and skills are not learned overnight.’