The LAA has published some more information about how the tender and the contracts themselves will work. In some ways the information raises as many questions as it answers but it also clarifies some important issues. There are two documents:
1. 2015 Duty Provider Crime Contracts Update
This sets out 8 key bidding rules:
- There will be a fixed number of equal sized contracts in each procurement area
- An organisation can only make one bid as an applicant organisation in a procurement area
- An organisation can only be included in two bids per procurement area
- An organisation can only be included in two bids per procurement area, ie as an applicant organisation once and a delivery partner once, or twice as a delivery partner
- The maximum number of organisations in a single bid for a procurement area is four, ie one applicant organisation and up to three delivery partners
- Within a bid, the applicant organisation must deliver the largest share of the work
- An applicant organisation must deliver a specified percentage of the total value of the contract – 30% in rural areas and 45% in urban areas
- A delivery partner must not deliver more than 40% of the value of work in a single bid
The document goes on to set out points to consider if bidding with a delivery partner, which emphasise that all the risks sit firmly with the applicant organisation – even as far as being responsible for the peer review result of a partner.
It provides example scenarios in which organisations may consider bidding with others as delivery partners
- Geographical coverage
- To gain a key member of staff with expertise which would attract more points in the as yet unpublished scoring scheme
- To allow very large organisations up to 140% of work in a procurement area
Financial assessment
Applicant organisations will have to submit financial information which will be assessed by a qualified financial professional based on key ratios from their accounts. New organisations will have to submit cash flow forecasts.
Expansion capacity assessment
Organisations bidding for contracts that are valued at more than twice their current value or are new entities will be subject to more detailed financial assessment.
They will be able to designate a ‘main bid’ and an ‘expansion bid’. If assessed as being able to deliver their main bid, it will be protected, rather than all bids being rejected due to expansion.
2. Example Duty Rotas
- Each procurement area will have a separate duty scheme.
- Outside London, the schemes will include a number of police station schemes and court schemes
- In London, the schemes will be made up of ‘a police station scheme and/or a court scheme’. This will undoubtedly give London firms much food for thought as schemes within the London area could be markedly different from each other. However, we will not know until the tender is actually published, which makes it very difficult to plan
- Providers on rotas will receive an equal share of duty slots – the LAA sets out some examples of how these could work
Legal Aid Handbook 