In a move to reshape how public services are purchased, the Crown Commercial Service(CCS) has set out the options for the new project. More than 35 ‘Legal Practice Sectors’ will be catered for with subsets of more than 75 smaller ‘Practice Areas’. These will include advisory work such as administrative and public law, data protection and information law, education law, planning, procurement, projects and social housing. It added that market engagement would be managed electronically via its eSourcing Suite with a contract notice to be published next month. 

Customer engagement

The CCS has put out guidelines on how the new project will operate.  'Presently, there are two commercial vehicle types being considered, a dynamic purchasing system, and / or a framework. The choice of commercial vehicle(s) will be decided after the results of in-depth market and customer engagement sessions currently being planned,' it says. 

Panels

It follows an earlier announcement this year when the CCS selected 18 law firms for a £320m, two-tier panel to provide general legal advice to crown bodies and other permitted users. In May it announced a panel agreement for finance and complex legal services worth an estimated £90m over a four-year period. Source: Public Law Today