The LSC received a query on 24 March 2009 from CrimeLine about payments over the end of the financial year. On 26 March, the LSC issued the following response to CrimeLine:
“Following the introduction in January of the new, more frequent payment regime, the LSC has cleared additional payments totalling approximately £41 million from January to February. The change from monthly to more frequent payments was made to help our providers in the current economic climate. In addition, we have put additional effort in to process providers' claims faster than previously experienced. We now turn round all claims on average in five working days.
We have to ensure that our total cash spend is within our funding limit. So we are carefully managing the remaining BACS payment runs for March. Providers will still be receiving weekly payments.
Any outstanding payments from this period will be settled in early April. Payments meantime will not stop and providers will continue to receive money. We discussed the situation with the Law Society and the Legal Aid Practitioners' Group so they are aware of what we're doing.
Payments in response to exceptional circumstances are still being made, as and when they're judged to be necessary. Where a provider has an exceptional situation that requires an urgent payment, they should contact their regional office and advise them of the urgency so that due consideration can be given.”
The LSC did not consider it necessary to publish a more formal statement, given the discussions that had taken place with the Law Society and Legal Aid Practitioners' Group. While my Noble friend Lord Bach, the Minister for Legal Aid, was involved in the wider discussions on providers' cash flow problems, he was not aware of the specific issue relating to the Financial Year end.
The LSC allocates a designated Relationship Manager for each provider. Providers can contact with their Relationship Manager with any queries they have concerning their contracts or payments.