Lord Carter of Coles is currently conducting a review in to the procurement of legal aid services. This review was announced in July 2005 and is expected to be complete by early 2006.
Lord Carter recently published a press release setting out what progress he has made during the two months of his review. You can view his progress report by following this link.

I try to keep myself informed of 'criminal justice current affairs' (if there is such a subject) and know that Lord Carter has been in talks with the Bar Council. It would not surprise me if Lord Carter had met with representatives from the Law Society and other organisations such as the Legal Aid Practitioners Group and the Criminal Law Solicitors Association. Lord Carter states that he and his team have met, "...with a number of figures from the legal professions..." What is that supposed to mean? Who has he met with and what did they say to him?
I might be a little dismissive when I say this but the only progress that I have seen myself by the review is the small flowchart that they have produced:

This review is going to change the way my work is done, and so far I have seen nothing happen. I have heard no news from 'Solicitor' representative groups and now I am getting concerned. Maybe a lot of work has been carried out on my behalf that has not been publicly announced? I think that it is now time to put pen to paper, or even fingers to the keyboard to express my views to the Carter Review.

posted by Gavin @ Wednesday, August 31, 2005   0 comments