§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will make a statement on the implications for private practice in criminal work of the consolidation of the number of solicitors' firms to be supported under the legal aid franchise. [144882]
§ Mr. LammyThe Legal Services Commission manages contracts with solicitors' offices which provide a comprehensive national network of quality assured legal services. The Commission is obliged by statute to ensure it achieves value for money and has therefore recently announced its intention to further develop its approach to contracting CDS services. In major urban areas, where services are often supplied through a multiplicity of relatively small contracted offices, this is likely to result in a reduction in the number of contracted offices, each undertaking greater volumes of work, but no reduction in the overall availability of services to the public. Outside the major urban areas, and particularly in rural areas, the Commission will be looking to provide arrangements which support and encourage supply in ways which recognise the need for access to quality services and the particular challenges facing solicitors in these areas.