2010 Standard Crime Contract

On this page:

About the 2010 Standard Crime Contract
Update: Amendments to the 2010 Standard Crime Contract to implement MoJ reforms
Duty solicitor rotas
Contract documents
Standard Terms
Specification
Schedule
Contract for signature
Additional documents
Fee sharing guidance

About the 2010 Standard Crime Contract

All our crime legal aid providers must sign a contract with us. The 2010 Standard Crime Contract came into force on 14 July 2010.

This page contains information on the terms of the final version of the 2010 Standard Crime Contract. For information on our approach to letting 2010 contracts, and supporting documentation including the Q&A, please see our Tenders pages.

Update: Amendments to the 2010 Standard Crime Contract to implement MoJ reforms - Sept 11

The LSC have today (1 Sept 11) published amendments to the 2010 Standard Crime Contract to implement the Criminal Defence Service (Funding) (Amendment) Order 2011 that was laid on 24 August 2011 and is expected to come into force on 3 October 2011.

These amendments have been subject to consultation with the representative bodies. The formal notice of the contract amendments that have been made and the revised contract specification can be found in the documents section.

Duty solicitor rotas

The duty solicitor rotas for police stations and courts are in the documents panel. The rotas run from 14 Jul 2011 to 13 Jan 2012.

Contract documents

All documents are in the Documents panel on the right. There are also short guides to the contract which outline the main terms of the 2010 Standard Terms and Specification.

We will keep providers updated about any information affecting the crime contract via the CDS news page.

Standard Terms

The Standard Terms govern the underlying relationship between the LSC and providers. The purpose of these Standard Terms 2010 is to have a generic set of terms, which apply to the Legal Services Commission’s three main contracts:

Civil
Crime
Very High Cost Cases (Crime) Panel Members

These 2010 Standard Terms are based on those already used in the crime and civil Unified Contracts, updated and revised as appropriate.

There has also been some restructuring of the contract documents to reinforce the Standard Terms’ role as the home for all the key terms governing the relationship between the providers and the LSC.

The Guide to the Standard Terms gives an overview of the key provisions and sets out in table form the basis of each Clause.

Specification

The Specification sets out the rules for carrying out publicly funded criminal defence work in all the CJS areas of England and Wales.

The key changes to the Specification include:

The Duty Solicitor Arrangements 2008. These have been incorporated into the Contract and are at section 6 of the Specification. Arrangements preserving Regional Duty Solicitor Committees will be made in time for the commencement of the CDS Contract in July 2010.

Prison Law Funding. Changes to prison law funding following from the LSC prison law funding consultation in 2009 and MoJ consultation on “Refocusing on priority cases” are now reflected in Section 12 of the Specification.

Prescribed proceedings in the Crown Court (whether on appeal from the magistrates’ court, or proceedings which are dealt with in the Crown Court). These will, from 14 July 2010, be funded under a representation order, applied for in the same way as a representation order in mainstream criminal proceedings. The payment provisions are the same as for Advocacy Assistance, and the costs limitation on claims will apply, but the funding is by representation order rather than by Advocacy Assistance.

A Guide to the Specification is under documents along with guidance on crown court case planning. The Specification itself is divided into provisions of general application in part A (sections 1 to 8) and specific rules on classes and units of work in part B (sections 9 to 13). There is also one Payment Annex which lists all the hourly rates, fixed fees and standard fees under Contract apart from:

Crown Court work in mainstream criminal proceedings (where the payment provisions are set out in the CDS (Funding) Order 2007 (as amended)); and
associated CLS work (because the fees and rates specified in the civil Payment Annex).

Schedule

The Schedule is an important contract document which sets out provisions specific to an individual provider. A version of the Schedule is under documents for illustration.

Contract for signature

This is a short contract document which will give effect to the contract as a whole. You will be asked to read, understand and agree to its contents as part of the tender process. A final version of the Contract for Signature is available in the documents section.

Additional documents

Category Definitions 2010 and Guidance on Category Definitions 2010

The Category Definitions 2010, which state which services fall into each Category of Law, are one of the key supporting documents referred to in both the 2010 Standard Crime and Civil Contracts and is available in the documents section; these replace the previous SQM Category Definitions. We have provided guidance on this document too, which can be located in the same section.

2010 Standard Crime Contract Guidance (for Specification)

This document covers any guidance previously in the Unified Contract Specification (July 2008) that we have removed, seeks to clarify further certain contractual provisions and assist you generally, when working in accordance with the Specification. This document is for information only and does not cover the Standard Terms. This document is available to view in the documents section.

Equality and Diversity Guidance and Policy 2010

This document outlines the LSC's equality and diversity guidance and policy that is referred to in the 2010 Standard Terms and which you must have regard to when carrying out work under the 2010 Standard Crime Contract.

The following documents are also referred to in the 2010 Standard Crime Contract:

Criminal Bills Assessment Manual
SMP Reconciliation Protocol
Independent Peer Review Process
Regional Duty Solicitor Committee Arrangements

We are updating these documents, which are currently on our LSC website to ensure correct references to the provisions of the 2010 Standard Crime Contract, make it more concise and easier to navigate (where applicable). We will publish these for your information in due course and will keep you updated with progress. For now, the versions of the documents on the website apply.

The Data Security Requirements are new and will published shortly.

Fee Sharing Guidance

To clarify fee sharing/other payments between providers and advocates under LSC crime contracts we have produced updated guidance (under documents) which covers the following:

• Permitted fee sharing arrangements (and the principle of the Instructed Advocate.)
• Payment for advocacy at s51 hearings in the Magistrates Court, including where undertaken by agents.
• Agency agreements between Higher Court Advocates.
• Payments for the introduction of work (referral fees).

Any use of the term advocate is meant to include barristers (independent or employed) and solicitor-advocates / Higher Court advocates (HCAs) who have rights of audience in the Crown Court.

Last updated: 01 September 2011