Finger Twiddling

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.