Policy & research > Responding to policy > 2009 > Legal Aid consultation on 2010 immigration contracts
Legal Aid consultation on 2010 immigration contracts
Response to Legal Aid consultation on the approach to the Civil Bid Rounds for the 2010 Immigration Contracts [Jan 09]
The Legal Services Commission published a consultation on the approach to the Civil Bid Rounds for the 2010 Immigration Contracts. The Refugee Council response was sent on 23rd January 2009.
The main concern about the way these contracts are proposed to be considered is that they are likely to be prescriptive and inflexible in terms of the numbers of cases that suppliers must commit to. This will favour larger firms with a more national presence and jeopardise the future of many smaller but effective practitioners. Many of these will have particular areas of expertise in relation to certain nationalities or types of case and potentially much of this will be lost.