Bridget Prentice (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice; Lewisham East, Labour)

In 2008 the Legal Services commission (LSC) set out its plans for procuring Civil Legal Aid contracts in the consultation paper Civil Bid Rounds for 2010 Contracts. The paper proposed minimum contract sizes, measured by "new matter starts" (NMS). The aim was to make sure there was good access to advice, and to ensure providers gain sufficient experience in the areas of law in question to give clients a good service. This is particularly important in asylum where there is little or no private market to ensure specialist knowledge and expertise is maintained in a frequently changing legal environment.

The proposed minimum for asylum was 100 NMS and for immigration was 50 NMS. When setting minimum new matter start sizes LSC took into account the existing pattern of provision, and whether one full time fee earner could meet the contract requirement. That ensures that smaller bodies are able to bid for contracts.

There were concerns raised in consultation that minimum matter start sizes had been set too high in immigration and asylum. As a result LSC reduced the levels for both. LSC have also responded to calls for greater recognition of geographical issues by setting the minimum matter start size at 70 for asylum and 30 for immigration in London, and at 35 for asylum and 15 for immigration in areas outside London.

In London there is already a good level of access to legal representation and there is a high demand for the service. For that reason LSC have set a higher minimum matter start size in London.