Specialist firms could be lost to legal aid under government proposals for a single social welfare contract, practitioners have warned.

The Legal Services Commission (LSC) last week began a consultation on a new procurement model for civil legal aid services. From 2010, the commission plans to buy bundles of advice on commonly linked legal problems, rather than contracting for discrete areas.

Its aim is to have a single social welfare contract for housing, debt, employment, welfare benefits and community care advice across 134 geographic areas roughly reflecting local authority boundaries.

The LSC says the new model should reflect the way clients experience legal difficulties and provide a seamless service through one point of contact.

It suggests smaller providers form consortia with other local firms to make joint applications.

Andrew Caplan, chairman of the Law Society’s access to justice committee, said that while clients may benefit from a one-stop shop, there is a risk that ‘long-established good quality legal aid practitioners could be lost to the system’.

Forming consortia may not be practical and the idea of firms joining forces with their business competitors may not be as straightforward as the commission suggests, he said.

A Law Society spokesman said that small specialist providers offer high levels of expertise, experience and commitment to their clients. ‘It would be a great loss if these providers were unable to continue to provide a service under the new civil contracting regime.’

The consultation runs until 23 January.