Bleak Monday

Friday proved not to be the nightmare it might have become. Fortunately very few firms seem to have fallen foul of the unnecessary, arbitrary hurdles the LSC seem to have constructed in this Family procurement round. Given that this was not a competitive bid it is difficult to see why common sense cannot prevail and these minor glitches be ironed out without the need for formal appeals, if they allow these to progress to panel in any event.

The most common failure factor to date is with regard to the (deliberately?) ambiguous wording of the Peer Review question – which a number of firms have, wrongly, answered in the affirmative. This information is, of course, already in the knowledge of the LSC. What possible purpose does it serve to remove these firms from publicly funded work, as will happen if these decisions are not reversed?

Like Counsel, exploring the other sides likely arguments and rationale, I can find no compelling argument to support a position which is effectively;

“minor process error should result in firms closing down”.

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