New franchise category required?

Some changes to Police Station codes have been released (including temporary increases to the fees in Aldershot and Sunderland). If you want the spreadsheet get in touch.

One of the things me and Mrs SP argue about is Billy Bragg. (She also thinks this Song Slot is funny - well we always get most traffic through the site on a Friday so there!)

Saturday saw us rehashing old themes as we listened to his latest album Mr Love Justice. Her main theme, political songs are almost always universally rubbish, has a lot going for it however he is one artist who can (occasionally) pull this off. She also finds him irredeemably "preachy" which I also have to concede, to a degree. Anyhow he is not to everyone's taste and so I have avoided bunging him up here - until now. This I think is him at his most self deprecating, some time ago and not from the new record, but worth a listen:

The first LSC comment on the case of Rasool appeared in this this weeks Gazette (page 3, again no interweb link is available). They are taking further advice and think that only a small number of cases "of negligible value" are affected. Shame they did not confirm this when asked during the proceedings.

This would seem to suggest that they believe the judgement only relates to recoupment on "revoked" certificates and not any other out-of-time matters they are pursuing. I disagree, as has everyone I have discussed the case with. We will have to wait and see.

We have had a couple of requests for the Mental Health reporting codes recently.

So help yourself.

Er that's it.

CDS suppliers might well be interested in this series of events involving the Senior Presiding Judge, Lord Justice Leveson.

Those of us in the North East will be happy to note that our venue is York. Will someone please inform regional TV.

Things have been a bit quiet here over the Easter break and yesterdays training kept me away from the blog. That said having had a long weekend off everything else seems very quiet. You might however be interested to check the new look Law Society web site which I think is nice and certainly an improvement.

As firms get into the swing of billing Civil and Criminal matters under the new regimes we have received a number of requests to run our short practical courses- if nothing else as a bit of a revision session.

Due to this demand we are now able to offer the following dates:

GATESHEAD METRO MARRIOTT
Wednesday 23 April
 
BRADFORD CEDAR COURT - CYPRESS SUITE
Tuesday 29 April

Both days follow the same format:

CIVIL

10.00 - Register & Tea/Coffee
10.30 - 12.30 PRACTICAL SESSION - CIVIL
 
CDS

1.30 - Register & Tea/Coffee
2.00 - 4.00 PRACTICAL SESSION - CDS

Sandra is now taking bookings over the phone or by e-mail.

We also have spaces available on a running of the CDS Course in Middlesbrough next Tuesday afternoon, 25th March.

I made passing comment on the Mills/McCartney case last month in relation to the issue Litigants in Person and the old addage that they have a "fool for a client".

Just to prove my case Ms Mills decided to dress for the judgement in a Jesters costume:

Friend of this site Tim Collins, Practice Director at No 6 (Park Square) Chambers in Leeds, our most valuable source of information with regard to the VHCC advocates contract saga, has been in touch.

It appears that none of the successful panel advocates in his Chambers has signed up, probably heralding a similar result over the rest of the UK.

We both await the publication of the full list of participating firms and Counsel.

This morning we once again heard of a female sole practitioner from an ethnic background who has closed down. I have not maintained statistics of this common phenomenon and now rather wish I had.

Our worst experience of this was obviously that of Birmingham Solicitor, Ranee Bassi who last year took her own life following a period of depression occasioned by a series of audits and an unwarranted investigation by the LSC. She was completely vindicated following a year long battle to clear her name. Amongst others the Gazette covered the story.

Today's news prompted me to contact her brother because there remains the issue of the LSC's proposed "review" of the circumstances leading up to her death. I commented on these proposals at the time. I am sadly not surprised that to date he has had no response from the LSC despite communicating with them again before Christmas. It seems my cynicism was justified.

The LSC's conduct, as I have said before, was disgraceful, to compound this by failing to undertake what they promised, on the record, at the time of her death can only damn them further.

Another mini quiz. How much do you think it will cost to put LSC "Offline" billing right?

Have a guess before you click here for the answer.

Tanks to the ever vigilant Andrew Keogh.

It is difficult to anything but echo the Law Society's comments on Best Value Tendering. Central to this is the almost ever present theme of conversations with CDS providers - that there is currently a severe dip in the volume of criminal work. One caller last week quantified this in terms of a 80% drop in the number of cases listed at his local Magistrates Court. Now this might be part of a peak/trough cycle and turn itself around, we have certainly witnessed this before.

What is new in this present downturn is how prevalent is seems to be across the UK - it is not just a little local difficulty confined to a tight geographical area. It must also, if my clients observations are correct, entirely quantifiable. Will this however impact upon decision making? Have a guess.

This Is Elbow's latest single and their 4th album is due out soon. The have featured here before and I like the slightly Black Rebel Motorcycle Club feel of. Might even pop into the Geordie Market (Metro Centre) this pm to see if it is out!

Tractor production the highest ever.

Compared to this case spotted by Andrew Keogh

As I said on Monday Madeline Bunting squandered a great chance to make the case for Legal Aid and against the current "reforms". Instead she set up the chance for Lord Hunt and Crispin Passmore to make a couple of easy passing shots in response. You will be familiar with both of these reposts - firstly comes the "more acts of advice and assistance that ever before" line followed up by a "we have vastly increased funding to the not for profit sector". I don't really want to go into the NfP stuff suffice it to say by that concentrating on this sector, and not the majority solicitor supplier base, she gifted an easy and irrefutable (except by more subtle and controversial argument) reply which damns the original piece.

I have commented on the former before and repeat -

"Their (LSC) fundamental statutory duty is to guarantee access to justice, via quality assured supply and not to monitor, arguably manipulate, a single, largely meaningless figure as a fig leaf for all the other at least equally vital measurements".

The impact of current mismanagement on Legal Aid suppliers is fairly easily measurable, the damage their proposals will have on future generations less so. I have no faith that those responsible for the present chaos are the correct people to be charged with securing the schemes future.

Having just bought tickets to see Billy Bragg I feel I should inform you of a far more important date - me at Manchester Law Society on Wednesday 2nd April.

Advanced bookings to the Society at DX 14378 Manchester 1

Sandra informs me that she has now been with JRS for 8 years. I am left wondering what crime would have led to a sentence of that length? Of course a British jail term does not come with hard labour however!

The LSC web-site has been uncharacteristically quiet over recent days/weeks. Is there nothing to report or is this deliberate we wonder? Is a keep our heads down strategy being employed?

There is however today a letter confirming reporting arrangements and with some advice on how to avoid having submissions rejected. Much of this you will know. Perhaps as proof of the above media approach is this final powder dry keeping, sentence:

"Progress to improve LSC Online continues and in April, I will provide you with an update on our plans to re-launch the service".

Any advance on not before September?

As you will be aware the VHCC saga continues with new contract out for signature. If you have been following the Bars continuing resistance to the scheme you might want to go here and download the latest instalment in this exchange of correspondence.

The lad's phones were ringing off the hook yesterday as firms received demands for 20-file PR samples. The epicentre for these requests was West Yorks and for Family files, but there is no need to believe that it is this localised. There will certainly be ongoing requests from here on in.

For some guidance on legitimate "burnishing" make those phones ring again. And bear this in mind:

"Many file notes and letters seemed very new considering how old some of the files actually were"

Madeleine Bunting gets 1,200 words in the Guardian to defend Legal Aid and attack New Labours handling of the scheme. This is of course very welcome. Unfortunately, and reminiscent of this weekends football, she largely manages to miss this open goal opportunity. You might want to read it anyhow.

As often I do, I have listened to this album round and round in the kitchen all week. It is one of only 2 modern British folk albums I own (Eliza Carthy is nowhere near as good) and I admit to an ongoing prejudice against the genre which I should probably get over. Could not chose between these two tracks so here are both:

Just finished some PR reps, phew. The firm looks badly done to to me however I remain deeply cynical about the representations process and don't hold out too much hope. Given the result obtained earlier in the week and the simple issues, which had they been addressed in this case which would have guaranteed at least a Cat.3, you may want to give us a ring.

UPDATE

Having now read the Cat. 1 report you might also want to have a look at some of the free stuff on the resources section on the side-bar.

Contract reporting, reconciliation and payment chaos continues to reign. I have had a couple of conversations with firms over standard reconciliation/SMP level issues so far this week. Today's story however involves the complete non payment of the SMP because the computer file sent was "not the correct format". Even if this is so, and we are investigating, how can this be right. Firms cannot report "in the manner prescribed" because of the LSC's cock up not the other way round.

All this leads me to ask the following questions;

Is there a campaign on reducing payments to hit some annual target by the end of March going on?

Are they deliberately attempting to reconcile contracts, especially CDS ones, to 100% rather than 107.5%?

Does someone get a bonus if the annual target is met?

Will we have this continuing chaos until September? (or later)

Is there any chance of chasing damages for increased overdraft charges?

Friend of this site Andrew Keogh sends a link to this case which seems, on a very quick glance having received it literally walking out of the door, to be very interesting indeed with regard to the limitation period and revoked certificates.

More training on the new Civil scheme this afternoon - fortunately not to far from base camp. This training need has resurfaced as firms begin to bill post October claims in greater numbers. I am doing quite a bit of this type of in-house work at the moment.

Hope to get a ham and pease pudding sandwich on the way.

Have you seen a Civil KPI report yet? If not get prepared by purchasing one of these. Andy is sitting opposite me looking a bit like this.

With my eyesight I need something a bit stronger.

Today I will perhaps work on two Peer Review appeals, certainly one. It is more than heartening therefore to get news that one of our "Peer Review Project" clients has achieved our first ever "excellence" in crime. So it can be done!

New VHCC Panel contracts have been issued with a new deadline for advocates to sign up.

The point of major interest for defence teams are the requirements for instructing advocates following the low numbers of signatures. These can be found at Section 1.5 of Annex 9. In short hand; try find a panel advocate, if you can't we will try (twice) and if that fails choose anyone you can.

Tell us what happens.

Will not be seeing them in Brussels but looks like I am going to get to see Krauss & Plant in Manchester in May.

Hurt shoulder on Saturday. Typing painful. Little Legal Aid news. Short post therefore.

We did however have our busiest month ever here in February - don't really know why.

More tomorrow bones permitting.