National Legal Services Framework
The National Legal Services Framework (NLSF) is a four-year agreement providing access to a wide range of legal services for Police and Crime Commissioners, Police Forces and their partner organisations, and Greater London Authority (GLA) functional bodies. Designed for ease of use, the NLSF enables participating bodies to award legal work to approved law firms.
Key features
Value for money: Offers excellent value for money with a very competitive fee structure which includes fixed fees and banded rates.
Specialist firms: Law firms appointed to the framework are experts in their field and have demonstrated the experience and ability necessary to provide specialist legal advice to all users:
- Capsticks
- Clyde & Co
- DWF
- TLT
- Weightmans
Lots: Consists of 5 Lots covering a wide range of legal areas:
- Lot 1A: Procurement, Contract and Commercial, and Governance: Complex Projects and Disputes
- Lot 1B: Procurement, Contract and Commercial, and Governance: Business as Usual
- Lot 2: Civil Litigation, Personal Injury and Debt Recovery
- Lot 3: Inquests and Public Inquiries
- Lot 4: Employment
- Lot 5: Misconducts & Regulatory
- Lot 6: Property — Residential, Commercial and PFI
| Firm | Lot 1A | Lot 1B | Lot 2 | Lot 3 | Lot 4 | Lot 5 | Lot 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capsticks | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Clyde & Co | ✓ | ||||||
| DWF | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| TLT | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Weightmans | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
The Lots are designed with built in flexibility, enabling a single legal firm to deliver end-to-end support on any given matter.
Flexible call-off: To meet the diverse needs of our users, we have developed a flexible call-off system.
There are four different ways you can award work to firms in a Lot:
- Apportionment: Awarding work equally to all firms within a Lot over a specified period.
- Rotation: Awarding work to firms in a fair, predetermined sequence on a case-by-case basis. The user may define the order, provided it treats all firms equitably.
- Interview: Awarding work to the firm considered most suitable based on an interview. This method is appropriate when time constraints prevent a mini-competition but a comparison of capabilities is still required.
- Mini-competition: Requesting bids from firms within a Lot for specific tasks or packages of work, enabling competitive selection based on predefined criteria
Management: Managed by the Metropolitan Police Service’s MetLaw team leaving users free to focus on the outsourcing of their work.
Compliance: Procured in accordance with the Public Contract Regulations 2015.
Who can use the NLSF
The NLSF is available to Elected Police and Crime Commissioners, Police Forces in England and Wales and their nominated partner organisations, and GLA functional bodies. It is designed to be easily accessible, enabling users to award legal work to a range of approved legal firms.
A list of eligible organisations
Avon & Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner
Avon and Somerset Constabulary
Bedfordshire Constabulary
Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner
Blue Light Commercial
British Transport Police
British Transport Police and Crime Commissioner
Cambridgeshire Constabulary
Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner
Cheshire Constabulary
Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner
City of London Police
City of London Police and Crime Commissioner
Civil Nuclear Constabulary
Civil Nuclear Police and Crime Commissioner
Cleveland Constabulary
Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner
Counter Terrorism Policing HQ
Cumbria Constabulary
Cumbria Police and Crime Commissioner
Derbyshire Constabulary
Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner
Devon & Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner
Devon and Cornwall Constabulary
Dorset Constabulary
Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner
Durham Constabulary
Durham Police and Crime Commissioner
Dyfed Powys Police
Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner
Essex Police
Essex Police and Crime Commissioner
Gloucestershire Constabulary
Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner
Greater London Authority
Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Gwent Constabulary
Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner
Hampshire Constabulary
Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner
Hertfordshire Constabulary
Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner
Humberside Police
Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner
Kent Constabulary
Kent Police and Crime Commissioner
Lancashire Constabulary
Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner
Leicester Police and Crime Commissioner
Leicestershire Constabulary
Lincolnshire Police
Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner
London Fire and Emergency Planning Police and Crime Commissioner
London Legacy Development Corporation
Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime
Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner
Merseyside Police
Ministry of Defence Police Committee
National Crime Agency and the Child Exploitation and Operation Protection Centre
National Police Chiefs’ Council
Norfolk Constabulary
Norfolk Police and Crime Commissioner
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service
North Wales Police
North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner
North Yorkshire Police
North Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner
Northamptonshire Police
Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner
Northern Ireland Policing Board
Northumbria Police
Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner
Nottinghamshire Constabulary
Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner
Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation
Police Service of Northern Ireland
South Wales Constabulary
South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner
South Yorkshire Police
South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner
Staffordshire Police
Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner
Suffolk Constabulary
Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner
Surrey Constabulary
Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner
Sussex Police
Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner
Thames Valley Police
Thames Valley Police & Crime Commissioner
The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners
The College of Policing
The Home Office
The Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, (on behalf of Metropolitan Police
The National Crime Agency
The National Police Air Service Ploughland House
Transport for London
UK Border Agency
Warwickshire Constabulary
Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner
West Mercia Constabulary
West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner
West Midlands Police
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner
West Yorkshire Police
West Yorkshire Combined Authority
What you need to know
Framework fees
There are different fee structures in each Lot, with Lots 2, 4, 5 and 6 all having different fixed fee or staged bandings to assist you in managing your spend.
Lots 1B, 2, 3, 4 and 6 have an hourly band and it is up to you as the person instructing the firm to decide which hourly band is applicable to your piece of work.
The hourly band should be based on the complexity of the work and not the seniority or post-qualified experience of the lawyer undertaking the work. For example, if you feel the work is straightforward you can instruct the firm to charge at band 3, this will mean that anyone who works on the matter will charge the band 3 rate, regardless of whether they are a Senior Partner or a Legal Executive.
Lots 1A and 5 operate differently to band rates and instead uses the more traditional approach of hourly rates based on the seniority or post-qualified experience of each lawyer working on the matter.
Lot 3 also permits the use of a daily rate for significant Inquest and Public Inquiries work in addition to the hourly band outlined above.
How to use the NLSF
You will need to request a copy of the NLSF Guidance document, which will provide the full range of information about the National Legal Services Framework, including everything you need to instruct one of the framework firms and benefit from the advantageous terms of the NLSF.
Contact us
To request a copy of the NLSF Guidance, please complete our online form.
We will verify the information you supply (as per our terms and conditions), and once your identity is confirmed, we will send the information by email.
To contact the MetLaw team at NLSF, please complete our online form.