JACK STRAW ANNOUNCES NEW TENDERING POLICY

[Alison J Stevens]

http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/newsrelease220310b.htm

22 March 2010

Ministry of Justice announces new tendering policy

The Ministry of Justice has announced new proposals for the tendering of criminal legal aid services with the aim of delivering significant savings to taxpayers and a more sustainable future for the legal aid budget.

The proposed new tendering process would also lead to greater efficiencies for suppliers enabling them to be profitable and sustainable, whilst ensuring that legal aid is available to those most in need.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw said:

'The legal aid budget has experienced an extraordinary rate of growth from £545 million in 1982/83 to about £2.1 billion in 2008/09 – an increase of 5.3% a year. Meanwhile, the number of practising lawyers has more than doubled over the
past 20 years and the distribution of legal aid funding is too often skewed
toward a handful of very highly paid individuals.

'I have said before that this must change – legal aid is there to help those most at need in our society and at a time when workers from all sectors are being forced to re-evaluate their earnings, we have a duty to ensure that
the legal aid budget is used effectively and efficiently on behalf of the
taxpayer.

'Even with the necessary savings and reforms, our system of legal aid – civil and criminal – will still be far and away the best funded in the world.'

The proposal, Restructuring the Delivery of Criminal Defence Services, would see the criminal legal aid market restructured so that there are a smaller number of large contracts contracted across a Criminal Justice Area. It would
also allow for contracts to include Crown Court work so that firms have access
to the higher value work.

The Ministry of Justice acknowledges that the proposed restructure would affect a large number of small and medium sized firms, however maintains that the current arrangements are unsustainable and change is necessary to maximise
value for money for legal aid while enabling efficient firms to thrive and make
a reasonable return.

Mr Straw added:

'In the early 1970s there were just over 2,500 practising barristers and about 32,000 solicitors, compared with 15,000 and 115,000 respectively today. This is equal to one lawyer for every 400 people. We are in grave danger of
becoming over- lawyered and underrepresented.

'We have been listening to solicitors and firms and we recognise the pressures that many are facing as they continue to operate under the current fee system. We believe it is important to move towards a consolidated market that
will enable firms to remain viable through access to greater volumes of
work.'

Alongside today’s announcement, the Ministry of Justice has published the annual list of the highest earning solicitors firms and barristers from the Criminal and Civil legal aid fund for 2008/09, and for the first time has also
published a second, anonymised, list of the numbers of those who received more
than £100,000 from criminal legal aid in the same year.

This new list detailing the numbers of criminal barristers receiving more than £100,000 from criminal legal aid in 2008/09 shows that there were 874 barristers who earned between £100k and £299k and a further 75 barristers who
recieved more than £300k. These figures do not include any other earnings, such
as prosecution, civil, family or private work.

Commenting on this year’s lists, Mr Straw said:

'The large majority of legal aid lawyers work long hours and provide a valuable and vital public service. It is entirely proper that these people are paid decent rates. However there are a handful at the top of the profession, and
sometimes in the middle ranks, where the picture is very different and there is
an expectation they should receive rewards comparable to those in the private
sector.'

'There is an interesting comparison to make between the top earning criminal law firm, which has received just over £9 million in legal aid payments over the year and employs 186 staff, with the highest earning barrister who made
close to £1 million for just a single individual.'

Jack Straw emphasised that these latest proposals help address the pressures on the legal aid budget and support other measures recently introduced to control spending and create efficiencies in the system including the roll-out
of Crown Court means testing, the introduction of a wider range of telephone and
internet-based service provision and the recent announcement to turn the Legal
Services Commission into an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Justice.

Notes to editors

1. Media Enquiries: Ministry of Justice Press Office 020 3334 3536
2. The Government statement on restructuring the delivery of criminal defe...
3. 2008/09 Top Ten Highest Earning Legal Aid Lawyer List: It is important that the lists below are read in the correct context to understand fully what the figures represent. The figures are inclusive of VAT (17.5%) and represent
   payments to a range of individuals involved in work of this nature, such wages
   for caseworkers, support staff and other overheads to be met They may also
   cover a number of cases spread over several years. View
   the full publication list and accompanying caveats.

Highest Paid Barristers - Criminal Defence Service

Howard Godfrey QC	£928,000
Roy Headlam	£787,000
Charles Salmon QC	£762,000
Joseph Giret	£712,000
Peter Griffiths QC	£704,000
Nigel Lambert	£629,000
Balbir Singh	£623,000
Alan Newman QC	£557,000
Nicolas Valios QC	£556,000
Jerome Lynch QC	£514,000

Highest Paid Barristers - Community Legal Service (year ending 31 March 2009)

David H Southey	£442,000
Paul M Storey QC	£402,000
A F Scott Donovan	£386,000
Jeremy G Rosenblatt	£384,000
Elizabeth A Gumbel QC	£376,000
Robin S Tolson QC	£364,000
Johanne E Delahunty QC	£363,000
Clive W Heaton QC	£338,000
Stephen Knafler	£310,000
Michael J Keehan QC	£299,000

Highest Paid Firms* – Criminal Defence Service

Tuckers	£9,397,000
The Johnson Partnership	£6,366,000
EBR Attridge Law	£5,399,000
Noble Solicitors	£5,056,000
Forbes Solicitors	£4,476,000
Cartwright King Solicitors	£4,417,000
David Phillips and Partners	£3,880,000
Martin Murray and Associates	£3,741,000
Bhatia Best Solictors	£3,615,000
Stevens Solicitors	£3,545,000

* In addition to the private firms listed above, the Public Defender Service (PDS) a publicly administered body providing legal advice and representation received £3,352,000 in 2008-09

Highest Paid Firms* - Community Legal Service

Duncan Lewis Solicitors	£9,907,000
Stephensons LLP	£5,671,000
Switalski’s	£4,989,000
Blavo and Company solicitors	£4,433,000
Howells LLP	£4,349,000
Fisher Meredith	£4,058,000
Wilson and Co	£3,665,000
Hodge Jones and Allen solicitors	£2,975,000
Foot Anstey	£2,953,000
Burke Niazi Solicitors and Advocates	£2,616,000

In addition to the firms listed above, the legal aid budget also funded services provided by the following not-for-profit organisations with charitable status during 2008-09. Contract funding to the Immigration Advisory Service of £
14,621,000; contract funding to Refugee and Migrant Justice of £13,772,000. Law
for All received £2,404,000. In addition, Dawn Advice received £2,497,000 and
A4E received £2,374,000 for Community Legal Advice work.

Payment range banding from Criminal Barristers

The table below shows the number of criminal barristers who were paid more than £100k from criminal legal aid in 2008-09. This does not include any earning from prosecution, civil or private work that may also have been
undertaken in the same period. There were 75 barristers paid over £300k.
The table also shows that the number of criminal barristers who were paid
between £100k and £299k in 2008-09 was 874. The figures relate solely to
criminal legal aid work and do not include any prosecution work that may have
been carried out.

Payment Range £	Number of Barristers	Cumulative total
750-1000	3	3
500-749	10	13
300-499	62	75
250-299	45	120
200-249	86	206
150-199	210	416
100-149	533	949

The above table is based on estimates, and the data has not been verified with the individual barristers concerned. In particular, the figures for barristers earning £100-299k are likely to be underestimated. This is
because they are derived from merged data from two separate databases, and it is
likely that not all barristers with earnings recorded in both databases have
been identified and correctly matched.JUSTICE

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