Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme from 17 December 2018

Legal aid Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme ("HPCDS") Services in England and Wales are currently being maintained through contingency arrangements.

The Legal Aid Agency ("LAA") has identified an issue with access to legal aid HPCDS Services covering specific HPCDS Schemes.

The LAA is inviting Applicants 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 for an initial 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.

The LAA is offering up to four contracts in each of the following HPCDS Schemes:

• Barnet
• Bodmin and Truro
• Grimsby
• Winchester

These Contracts will commence on 17 December 2018.

The LAA is seeking to award HPCDS Contracts to Applicants who:

• a.are able to deliver HPCDS Services through an Office based in the corresponding Housing and Debt Procurement Area and hold authorisation in the Housing and Debt Categories of Law under a 2018 Standard Civil Contract; and
• b.have relevant and recent experience of delivering HPCDS services; and
• c.are able to deliver HPCDS services from 17 December 2018.

HPCDS will be scheduled through rotas. Successful Applicants will be required to attend and deliver HPCDS services where requested by Clients at all housing possession listings included in the relevant Scheme during their allocated rota weeks (see paragraphs 1.4 - 1.5 of the IFA).

The allocation of Contract Work to an Applicant is dependent on the number of contracts awarded in a HPCDS. In submitting a Tender, therefore, Applicants must be willing to deliver a minimum of one week in four and a maximum of all weeks of a HPCDS rota (i.e. the entire HPCDS) in the Scheme(s) they have tendered for.

Due to the urgent need for contracts to commence in December to maintain service provision, the timescale from launch to the deadline for submission of tenders has been set at 27 days.

Applicants wishing to deliver services under the HPCDS Contract must submit a Tender which consists of a response to one or more HPCDS ITT(s) ("ITT Response").