Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme services in England and Wales from 1 October 2018 Exclusive Schedule

On 5 July 2018 the Legal Aid Agency ("LAA") cancelled the 2018 Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme Contract procurement process. It took that decision to give effect to the Administrative Court's decision dated 22 June 2018 (case number CO/5321/2017) in the judicial review proceedings brought by the Law Centres Federation t/as Law Centres Network against the Lord Chancellor.

The LAA has already set out its intentions for maintaining Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme ("HPCDS") services for a contingency period (see the LAA's update published at on 6 July on the 'Latest Updates' section of https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-2018-contracts-tender). This will enable a review of relevant policy and provide the time needed to prepare and run a new procurement exercise for these services.

In accordance with its published intentions for contingency arrangements, in July 2018 the LAA offered existing providers of HPCDS services an extension of their current contract for a contingency period.

Some existing providers have confirmed that they do not wish to deliver HPCDS services beyond 30 September 2018, when current civil legal aid contracts end. This procurement process has, therefore, been opened to secure services in the HPCDS Schemes affected by existing providers' decisions not to deliver them from 1 October 2018.

Under this procurement process, Applicants are invited to submit a Tender for an Exclusive Schedule under a 2013 Standard Civil Contract (as amended) ("HPCDS Contract or Contract") to deliver HPCDS services in specific courts from 1 October 2018 for an initial 12-month period to 30 September 2019 with the right for the LAA to extend the contract from 1 October 2019 for a maximum further 12 months.