Bar Council calls on LSC to ditch ‘failed’ high cost contrac

The Bar Council, the professional body for over 15,000 barristers in England and Wales, has called on the Legal Services Commission (LSC) to abandon its proposed new contract for high cost criminal cases and to work together on the swift preparation of a better scheme.

The LSC has stated that only about 110 barristers out of the 2,300 to whom contracts were offered have signed the revised contract, indicating that the scheme has failed to attract sufficient numbers of experienced, specialist, barristers. VHCCs represent the most complex cases in the criminal courts, and as such they must be conducted by the most able barristers. The new contract endangers this, putting the public interest at risk at a time when a very high quality legal system is vital to the interests of justice.

The Bar Council has repeatedly stated that the new contract will damage timely and cost-effective VHCC management. Offers to work with the LSC to produce a robust, effective scheme which acts to incentivise excellent case management have been ignored, despite the very real risk of lasting damage being done to the criminal justice system by a flawed and ill-thought-through scheme.

Commenting on the new contracts, Chairman of the Bar Tim Dutton QC said: “The LSC Scheme is flawed and serves neither the interests of criminal justice nor the taxpayer. These cases require the most experienced and able barristers for what are the most complex cases which come before the Criminal Courts. As we have repeatedly said to the LSC, and to Ministers, we are prepared to work with them to help to design a scheme which attracts and rewards the most able and efficient advocates and which does so within the financial constraints imposed.

He continued: “It is regrettable that the LSC continues to be inaccurate in its Press releases. My letters to the LSC spelling out the inaccuracies have not even been responded to, let alone answered. The real state of affairs is that no new money was provided to the publicly-funded criminal bar as a result of Lord Carter’s review. In addition, Lord Carter himself agreed with the Bar that the hourly rate scheme which the LSC had in place contained absolutely no incentive to defence teams to innovate and work efficiently. The LSC must reconsider this approach and take into account the concerns of the Bar Council, before the public interest is jeopardised by what is clearly an unviable scheme.”