Coronavirus (COVID-19): contract management and assurance
Working with contract management and accreditation.
Applies to England and Wales
Arrangements outlined here have been reviewed against the guidance set out for England and Wales by the UK and Welsh Governments.
Unless specified, end dates set against arrangements will be kept under review. We will give 3 weeks’ notice for restart dates, on a rolling schedule for legal aid providers.
Office and supervisory arrangements
We are ending the temporary standards introduced as part of our COVID-19 contingency response on 16 May 2022. These temporary arrangements were designed to help providers at a time when they were unable to meet their full contract arrangements because of the pandemic. The position in spring 2022 has changed. Most providers are fulfilling their full contract requirements and we need to take account of current government guidance in England and Wales.
The timescales we are setting out give providers 6 weeks to make the necessary changes. It allows time to engage with contract managers and discuss contract compliance concerns. Providers will then need to comply with their full contractual obligations by 16 May 2022 without relying on withdrawn temporary COVID-19 standards.
An exception is being made for temporary COVID-19 standard number 4 in relation to backwards looking requirements for supervisor hours and case involvement. This will be kept under review and remain in place until 30 June 2022. Case managers will continue to monitor the use of this temporary standard. If you have any questions you should contact your contract manager
Where can I read the temporary COVID-19 standards?
The ‘Temporary COVID-19 Standards table’ which were used as part of our contingency response is available on GOV.UK: .
Quality Mark accreditation
We are ending the contingency arrangements for Specialist Quality Mark (SQM) post-quality mark audits on 16 May 2022. These arrangements allow the audits to be carried out remotely or via a mixture of on-site and remote elements known as the ‘blended approach’.
It means that any audit booked to take place after 16 May 2022 will need to be carried out on site. The timescale gives 6 weeks to adjust.
In certain exceptional circumstances, we will permit interviews with staff to be conducted via remote means. This would apply where:
-
individuals cannot attend the office for COVID-19 reasons
-
our SQM administrator ‘Recognising Excellence’ does not consider the remote interview will affect the quality of the audit
For all queries in relation to the SQM audit process contact Recognising Excellence:
SQM helpdesk telephone number – 01452 688357
sqm@recognisingexcellence.co.uk – SQM mailbox
Recognising Excellence website – all other enquiries
Duty solicitor management
We are talking to providers and partners in the criminal justice system within your local area. We will work jointly with stakeholders on issues arising from changes to contingency arrangements. We will discuss with providers their duty solicitor management plans going forward.
We are having conversations with providers to discuss their issues complying with the duty solicitor contractual requirements. We are also interested to hear their local experiences within the context of police custody and court listing practices.
We know that work levels in the police station have returned to pre-COVID-19 levels and magistrates’ court and Crown Court work continues to be reinstated. We also recognise that some duty solicitors may still not be able to demonstrate compliance. We also appreciate that restrictions continue to be implemented, which may affect providers and their staff.
As a contingency arrangement:
-
we will not take contractual action where duty solicitors are unable to fully comply with the 14-hour rule and/or attendance requirements as a result of the impact of COVID-19
-
in these circumstances, providers should continue to maintain records to explain any reasoning
-
we will keep this approach under ongoing review and will give 3 weeks’ notice of any changes
Providers are reminded to inform their contract manager immediately of any staffing changes, including where a duty solicitor gives notice of leaving or leaves your employment or ceases to be engaged by you.
Contractual action in line with section 6 of the specification may be taken in some circumstances, but only where it is reasonable, proportionate and appropriate to do so.
You should note also our guidance on CRM12 applications for the October 2021 rotas. The intention is that duty solicitors included on the October duty rotas should comply with the contractual duty solicitor requirements for those rotas. As such, this measure will end on 30 September 2021.
We want to ensure continued provision of service to clients and will use existing duty solicitor arrangements. These already operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Providers are able to swap slots with other providers on the scheme who are unaffected.
If a provider is unable to cover a slot or swap it, the Defence Solicitor Call Centre may:
-
offer the slot to other members of the specific duty scheme
-
if the slot cannot be accommodated within the existing duty scheme, invite duty solicitors from neighbouring schemes to provide cover
Should a local police station close then detainees may be moved to another custody suite. In that scenario, we will consider case by case whether it would be reasonable for scheme members to “follow” the work to the new location. In this scenario we will consult on an urgent basis with affected duty scheme members.
Designated accredited representatives in mental health cases
We resumed contract management activity against the provisions on Designated Accredited Representatives (DARs) on 23 November 2020.
Contract management activity for the current schedule period is focused on establishing whether providers are likely to meet this requirement over the schedule period. We expect providers to meet this requirement.
Where a provider is prevented from doing so due to the impact of COVID-19, the LAA will support them to comply. We will not consider taking any contract action against a provider for a failure to meet this requirement except where:
-
it is clear the failure was not related to the COVID-19 outbreak
-
the provider has not made a reasonable attempt to comply with the requirement
Normal contract management activity on DARs resumed from 1 September 2021. Providers must now fully comply with these provisions.
Stay up to date
If you have any questions about your contract, talk to your contract manager.
We are monitoring the situation and will update any changes to operational guidance in the first instance on our digital channels:
- Twitter: @LegalAidAgency and @LAAHelpTeam
- Legal Aid Agency Bulletin (subscribe)
We will also share information with representative bodies to share with their members.
Further information
Coronavirus (COVID-19): Legal Aid Agency contingency response
Last updated 4 April 2022 + show all updates
-
Amended content to reflect the ending on 16 May 2022 of temporary standards introduced as part of our COVID-19 contingency response.
-
Contingency arrangements affecting office and supervisory arrangements and quality mark accreditation will now remain in place until 28 February 2022 at the earliest.
-
Extension of COVID-19 temporary standards for supervision and office requirements and SQM contingency until 14 January 2022. This follows contract changes on 1 November 2021.
-
Revisions to content dealing with COVID-19 contingency dates for office and supervisory arrangements, CRM12 duty rota applications and designated accredited representatives in mental health cases.
-
Updated telephone contact number for 'Recognising Excellence' SQM helpdesk to 01452 688357
-
Updated guidance for contract management and accreditation during the COVID-19 pandemic
-
Edited timings due to COVID-19 contingency roadmap
-
COVID-19 contingency measures review date.
-
Temporary COVID-19 Standards attachment and updated information on office and supervisory arrangements.
-
Edit to include amended extension of contingency dates.
-
Edit to DAR in mental health cases amended to refresh language.
-
Edit to include accredited representatives, core testing: assurance testing of provider files and peer review with additional material migrated from business restarts page.
-
Edit to insert new text on office and supervisory arrangements.
-
Edit made to the SQM section to revise and update text.
-
Edit text in designated accredited representatives in mental health cases
-
Edit to remove out of date content in duty solicitor management.
-
Revised the office and supervisory arrangements section and removed reducing administrative activity for providers.
-
Removed out-of-date section 'Reducing administrative activity for providers'.
-
Change to dates for the furlough arrangements.
-
Add additional section 'Duty solicitor management' and amended text in 'Designated accredited representatives in mental health cases' section.
-
Update to contingency arrangements for Quality Mark accreditation audit delays. This has already been announced on the GOV.UK page called 'schedule of processes restarting after COVID-19 contingency'
-
First published.