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This page contains information about any tender process for any Community Legal Advice telephone tenders.
Latest Updates
20 April 2012 - Frequently Asked Questions related to the ITT to deliver interim CLA Specialist Telephone Advice Services 2012
As set out at paragraph 3.6, Section 2 of the Information for Applicants (IFA), we have today published our first and final Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document.
The deadline for questions about the IFA or the ITT was 12:00 on 18 April 2012 (note this is referred to as the ‘End date for supplier clarification messages’) on the eTendering system. Questions of wider interest have been collated and answered in the final "Interim CLA Services ITT FAQs" document. The FAQ document can be found in the Documents panel on the right hand side of this page
We are unable to answer questions relating to the IFA or the ITT after the deadline of 12:00 on 18 April 2012.
If you have technical queries on how to use the eTendering system, you should contact the Bravo help desk on 0800 3684850 (lines are open from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday).
11 April 2012 – Invitation to Tender for CLA Specialist Telephone Legal Advice Contracts
Today the LSC is inviting shortlisted Applicants to tender for CLA Specialist Telephone Legal Advice Contracts in Debt, Welfare Benefits and Education
Only Applicants shortlisted following the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) stage of this Tender have been invited to submit Tenders under this Invitation to Tender (ITT).
Applicants will receive an individual Invitation to Tender for each Category they have been shortlisted for. The draft CLA Contract 2012 documentation has been provided in the documents panel to the right of this page.
5 April 2012 – Contract Extension Award Notice in relation to the Community Legal Advice (CLA) Family Specialist Telephone Legal Advice Contracts awarded in 2009
The LSC has published a Contract Award Notice in relation to CLA Family Specialist Telephone Legal Advice Contracts, awarded in 2009, which can be found in the panel on the right.
We have extended the current CLA Family Specialist Telephone Legal Advice Contracts 2009 by a further eight months (and reserved the right to a maximum contingency extension of a further six months) in order to maintain the CLA Service up to the point of implementing the proposals of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, which is currently progressing through Parliament.
4 April 2012 – Update on the Community Legal Advice Open Day
Further to the Open Day held on 14 March 2012, approximately 60 attendees attended a session at the CLA operator service base in Hinckley.
The day included a tour of the operator service, a talk from a current specialist provider and an update about what the future tender for specialist telephone advice contracts could look like. The day ended with a question and answer session. The presentations from the day and questions from providers with the answers given have been published in the documents panel of this page. A further document in relation to the talk from the specialist provider who presented on the day will be available at a later date on this page.
26 March 2012: Notification of PQQ Outcomes today
Today we are notifying all Applicants of the outcome of their response to the PQQ for CLA Specialist Telephone Advice Services for interim contracts. Notification letters have been sent separately for each Category of Law that Applicants stated they were tendering to deliver. Letters have been sent through the secure message board in the PQQ for CLA Specialist Telephone Services in the eTendering system.
Where Applicants have been unsuccessful, their letter will give details of the reason(s) why they have been unsuccessful, and information on how to appeal. An Appeal Pro-forma is available in the documents panel on the right hand side of this page. Appeals must be received by the deadline of 12 noon on 2 April 2012.
19 March 2012: Deadline for submitting PQQ responses has passed
The deadline for submitting the Community Legal Advice tender for Interim Contracts was 12 noon on 19 March 2012. Late responses cannot be accepted.
We will now be assessing PQQs and will notify Applicants of the results as per the Outline Timetable in Section 1 of the Information for Applicants.
13 March 2012 - Important Information - PQQ deadline extended to 12 noon 19 March 2012
A notice of an amendment to the PQQ deadline can be found in the Documents panel on the right hand side of this page.Applicants must open and read this amendment notice.
9 March 2012 - Frequently Asked Questions related to the PQQ to deliver interim CLA Specialist Telephone Advice Services 2012
As set out at paragraph 18, Section 2 of the Information for Applicants (IFA), we have today published our first and final Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document.
The deadline for questions about the IFA or the PQQ was 12:00 on 7 March 2012 (note this is referred to as the ‘End date for supplier clarification messages’) on the eTendering system. Questions of wider interest have been collated and answered in the final "Interim CLA Services PQQ FAQs" document. The FAQ document can be found in the Documents panel on the right hand side of this page
We are unable to answer questions relating to the IFA or the PQQ after the deadline of 12:00 on 7 March 2012.
If you have technical queries on how to use the eTendering system, you should contact the Bravo help desk on 0800 3684850 (lines are open from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday).
Closing date for submission of the PQQ is 12 noon on 14 March 2012.
Today a tender process opens for interim CLA Specialist Telephone Advice Services 2012.
The LSC is running a competitive tender process for 9 month interim contracts for Community Legal Advice (CLA), a free and confidential telephone advice service covering England & Wales. The interim contracts will be in the Debt, Education and Welfare Benefits Categories of Law.
The 9 month interim contracts are to cover the period prior to the implementation of the telephone advice proposals, as set out in the Proposals for the Reform of Legal Aid (the “Proposals”). The Proposals will see the service redesigned and tendered via a competitive process.
Any organisation wishing to deliver CLA Specialist Telephone Advice interim contracts in Debt, Education and Welfare Benefits must be able to deliver the CLA service by 2 July 2012.
Pre-Qualification Questionnaire
The initial stage of the CLA tender process is the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ). The deadline for submission of the PQQ is 12 noon on 14 March 2012.Information on how to apply can be found in the Information for Applicants document which can be found in the documents panel on the right hand side of this page.
Applications must be made online through the e-tendering system. A helpline 0800 3684850 has been set up, which you can call if you are having any technical problems with using the eTendering system.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you have any questions about the content of the PQQ, or associated guidance these should be raised through the e-tendering system and must be asked by 12 noon on 7 March 2012.Questions of wider interest will be collated and answered through a Frequently Asked Questions document which will be published in the documents panel on this page on 9 March 2012.
Successful PQQ applicants will then be invited to submit an Invitation to Tender.
Closing date for submission of the PQQ is 12 noon on 14 March 2012.
Community Legal Advice Open Day
14 February 2012 - CLA Open Day
Community Legal Advice is a telephone helpline that provides legal advice direct to the public on a range of common legal problems. The helpline offers specialist legal advice, including casework, to clients eligible for legal aid. It was launched in July 2004 by the Legal Services Commission.
The LSC intends to run a full competitive tender for the new specialist telephone advice contracts in line with the Proposals for the Reform of Legal Aid. These Proposals will impact on the existing service requirements by reducing or removing from scope some of the existing categories of law offered but will also introduce additional advice categories.
We would like to invite you to attend an Open Day which will provide more information about the service, the tender process and how we will work with the successful providers.
There will be two sessions held on 14 March 2012 at 10am – 12.30pm and 1.30pm – 4pm at First Assist Hinckley, Wheatfield Way, Hinckley Fields Estate, Hinckley LE10 1YG
To register to attend please email claservices@legalservices.gsi.gov.uk with the attached proforma by 7 March 2012
Places are limited to one person per organisation and they will be on a first come first served basis.
Community Legal Advice (CLA) Informal Expression of Interest
20 February 2012 – Notice re: informal expressions of interest for the interim Community Legal Advice (CLA) Specialist Telephone Advice services closed on Monday 12 December
We are required to maintain the existing Community Legal Advice specialist telephone advice service until the Proposals for the Reform of Legal Aid ('The proposals') are implemented.
On 28 November 2011 we asked for informal expressions of interest for delivery of interim CLA Specialist Telephone Advice services in Debt, Welfare Benefits, Housing, Employment and Education, from April 2012 until March 2013.
Due to the level of interest, we will be running a formal competitive tender in order to let interim specialist telephone advice contracts in Welfare Benefits, Debt and Education to run from July 2012 until March 2013.
We will not be inviting tenders for interim contracts in Employment and Housing as our current contracted providers can provide sufficient capacity for the provision of advice in these categories.
We are also planning to run a competitive tender for 3 year Specialist Telephone Advice contracts, due to start in April 2013, in order to deliver the telephone advice proposals, as set out in the Proposals for the Reform of Legal Aid (see http://www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/legal-aid-reform.htm).
Further details with regards to both of these tenders will be published on this page in due course.
15 December 2011 - Deadline for responses to the informal expressions of interest for the interim Community Legal Advice (CLA) Specialist Telephone Advice services closed on Monday 12 December.
Following the completion of this informal Expression of Interest process, we will review the responses received and make a decision on the approach to be taken.
28 November 2011 – Invitation for informal expressions of interest for delivery of interim Community Legal Advice (CLA) Specialist Telephone Advice services in Debt, Welfare Benefits, Housing, Employment and Education.
Deadline for responses is 5pm on Monday 12 December 2011.
The LSC is inviting informal expressions of interest for delivery of interim CLA Specialist Telephone Advice services in Debt, Welfare Benefits, Housing, Employment and Education, from April 2012 until March 2013.
We are required to maintain the existing Community Legal Advice specialist telephone advice service until the Proposals for the Reform of Legal Aid ('The proposals') are implemented.
To achieve this our preferred option is to issue interim one-year extension contracts to our existing service providers, to run from April 2012 until March 2013 and run a competitive tender process for the new service contracts needed to deliver 'the proposals'.
Before adopting this approach we wish to seek expressions of interest from any organisations interested in providing the services under an interim one-year contract.
The notice and expression of interest form are available in the documents panel on the right hand side of this page.
Last updated: 22 May 2012