Procurement of Housing and Debt Services and HPCDS Services from December 2022

The Legal Aid Agency (“LAA”) has identified the need to increase access to legal aid Housing and Debt Services in specific Housing and Debt Procurement areas and for specific Housing Possession Court Duty Schemes (“HPCDS”). Accordingly, it is inviting Applicants to submit a Tender to deliver:

• a)Housing and Debt services in:
• City of Kingston upon Hull
• Cheshire
• Shropshire
• South Tyneside
• Staffordshire
• Wigan
• b)The following HPCDS:
• Basildon
• Crewe
• Hull
• Medway and Maidstone
• Stafford
• Walsall

Applicants may bid for Housing and Debt Contract Work and/or HPCDS Contract Work through this procurement process. They are not obliged to bid for both Housing and Debt and HPCDS, although they should note that to be eligible to bid for an HPCDS Contract organisations must hold, or successfully bid for as part of this procurement process, a 2018 Standard Civil Contract with authorisation in the Housing and Debt Categories of Law.

Due to the urgent need for contracts to be in place to allow services to commence, the timescale from launch to the deadline for submission of tenders has been set at 21 days.

The Deadline for submitting Tenders is 12pm on 7 November 2022 (“Deadline”)

All Tenders must be completed and submitted using the eTendering system. This can be accessed either through a link on the tender pages of the LAA website or directly at www.legalaid.bravosolution.co.uk.

Late submissions will not be considered under any circumstances. It is the Applicant’s sole responsibility to ensure that the LAA receives its Tender before the Deadline.

For Housing and Debt The LAA is looking for Applicants who can start delivering Contact Work as quickly as possible. Applicants will be required to state in their Tender when they can start delivering Contract Work from each Office from which they are bidding. Contracts will run until 31 August 2024 (subject to the LAA’s rights of early termination).

Each HPCDS will commence on 1 December (or the date on which Applicants

bid to commence the delivery) and run until 29 April 2023 (subject to the LAA’s rights of early termination).