LSC will take over responsibility for processing claims from advocates and solicitor advocates

From July 2010 the LSC will take over responsibility for processing claims from advocates and solicitor advocates who deliver publicly funded work in the Crown Court.

Currently, AGFS claims are submitted to individual HMCS court centres and are then processed by court staff. 

The LSC will take responsibility for all new claims (ie. those with a Representation Order dated on or after the implementation date) from July 2010, and older claims in phases to ease the transition.

The proposed phases are:

• July 2010: LSC will take all new claims from all HMCS Regions, and claims in older cases from the South West and Wales.
• October 2010: LSC will take claims in pre-July 2010 cases from the Midlands, North East and North West
• January 2011: LSC will take claims in pre-July 2010 cases from London and the South EastBringing this work in-house will give LSC direct control over AGFS payments and enable HMCS to focus on core activities.

Providers will also benefit, as payments will be claimable online and paid by BACS as opposed to the existing process of paper claim form and payment by cheque.

The LSC will work with the Bar Council, the Law Society, the Solicitors? Association of Higher Courts Advocates and other interested parties to ensure that practitioners? interests are fully represented. 

Further updates and a detailed timeline will be posted on the website and sent via LSC Update as implementation approaches.