In brief
The Legal Services Commission has launched a package of criminal defence legal aid reforms, designed to start the transition to a system of best value tendering based on quality, capacity and price. The key proposals include: introducing fixed fees to control legal aid costs for representing clients in police stations; setting up a specialist panel of defence teams of solicitors and barristers to handle around 100 new high cost criminal cases a year, that currently account for approximately 5% of the overall legal aid budget; and expanding Criminal Defence Service Direct to provide telephone advice to all clients detained in police stations for minor offences.
