State Funding

The Legal Services Commission have issued a Consultation Paper on its proposals for the introduction of contracting all civil certificated work from 1 April 2001. It proposes that (a) family; (b) immigration; (c) personal injury, and (d) clinical negligence work will be treated differently from any other category of work, whether or not a franchise category exists. All work other than in categories (a) to (d) is referred to as the remaining categories. The proposal is that an office which has passed a preliminary audit in any category of law will qualify for a licence contract to undertake civil certificated work in that category and in the remaining categories. For example, an office that has passed a preliminary audit in the family category will qualify for a licence to do family certificated work and any work in the remaining categories, but not work in the immigration, personal injury or clinical negligence categories. If an office has passed a preliminary audit in housing it would qualify for a licence contract in housing and all the other remaining categories but not for any of the categories in (a) to (b).