London councils name 27 barristers' chambers to £15m+ legal panels

Procurement iStock 000002542569XSmall 146x219The London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark have named 27 chambers to a barristers’ framework worth more than £15m over four years.

The estimated spend for Southwark is £10m, while for Lambeth it is £5.75m. The commencement date for the framework was 15 August 2016.

The agreement has been divided into ten panels. According to a report prepared for Southwark Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, Modernisation and Performance, 45 expressions of interest were received over the ten panels. These ranged from nine applications for the planning panel to 25 for the general litigation panel. Thirty-five chambers were invited to tender.

The number of chambers was reduced from the previous framework, when 31 were chosen, and some sets are new to the panels. A 60:40 (price/quality) weighted model was used to evaluate the tenders and the successful chambers were:

Childcare

  1. 33 Bedford Row
  2. Fourteen
  3. Field Court
  4. 9 Gough Square
  5. 4 Brick Court

Housing

  1. 4 King’s Bench Walk
  2. Arden Chambers
  3. 42 Bedford Row
  4. Hardwicke
  5. Field Court
  6. Staple Inn
  7. Five Paper
  8. Cornerstone Barristers

Property

  1. 4 King’s Bench Walk
  2. 33 Bedford Row
  3. 9 Gough Square
  4. 42 Bedford Row
  5. Hardwicke

Planning

  1. 6 Pump Court
  2. 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square
  3. Cornerstone Barristers
  4. Francis Taylor Building
  5. Landmark Chambers

Social Care

  1. Arden Chambers
  2. Field Court
  3. Cornerstone Barristers
  4. 39 Essex Chambers

Licensing

  1. 9 Gough Square
  2. 6 Pump Court
  3. Cornerstone Barristers
  4. Francis Taylor Building

Prosecutions

  1. 33 Bedford Row
  2. Drystone Chambers
  3. 9 Gough Square
  4. 9-12 Bell Yard
  5. Cornerstone Barristers

Employment

  1. 7 Bedford Row
  2. Field Court
  3. Pump Court Chambers
  4. Ely Place Chambers
  5. Outer Temple Chambers

Education

  1. Arden Chambers
  2. 11KBW
  3. Sergeant’s Inn Chambers
  4. Doughty Street Chambers
  5. Outer Temple Chambers

General Litigation

  1. 1 Chancery Lane
  2. 9 Gough Square
  3. 42 Bedford Row
  4. Ely Place Chambers
  5. Cornerstone Barristers

Of these, the child care and housing litigation panels have historically produced the greatest spend.

It is expected that the majority of instructions will be placed through the framework. However, some specialist work may need to be instructed to barristers outside of the framework, for example where specialist QC advice is required. This represented 5% of instructions under the previous framework, the Southwark report revealed.

The framework is open to other local authorities wishing to use barristers’ services and subject to approval of both Lambeth and Southwark. The framework was estimated as having a total value of £24m to allow for other authorities that might potentially wish to access it.