§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when he will make an evaluation of the performance of the Legal Services Commission with specific reference to the provision of franchise arrangements with agencies providing legal advice. [168310]
§ Mr. LammyThe Legal Services Commission (LSC) has reported regularly to my Department on measures they have taken to improve quality in publicly funded legal services since it replaced the Legal Aid Board in April 2000.
The Specialist Quality Mark replaced franchise arrangements in April 2002 and became a requirement for all organisations wanting to provide specialist legal services within the Criminal Legal Service (CLS) and Criminal Defence Service (CDS). The Quality Mark is a set of quality assurance standards for legal information, general advice and specialist legal services.
The LSC is aware that some of the requirements of the Quality Mark are viewed by suppliers as overly bureaucratic. In response, a revised audit process was introduced in April 2003 that will mean that the Commission can undertake less exhaustive, less frequent audits for the best performing solicitors' firms and advice agencies. The LSC is consulting on further measures to ease the burden on firms and will continue to work with the profession to improve the position.