Payment for Civil controlled work and Crime LowerFinancial and contract managementContract managementFinancial and contract managementContract managementFinancial and contract managementContract managementFinancial and contract managementContract managementFinancial and contract managementContract management
20.4There are two options for payment of this work. You can opt for variable monthly payments (VMP) reflecting each month’s claim, plus the value of any escape fee cases credited to you by the LAA during the month, (sometimes referred to as ‘pay as you go’) or you can be paid Standard Monthly Payments (SMP).
20.5The advantage of ‘pay as you go’ is that reconciliation of claims against payments should be fairly straightforward.
20.6If you opt for an SMP, it will be the amount the LAA expects to pay you over the lifetime of the schedule, divided by that number of months. The advantage is that you get a regular amount, which can help with budgeting; but since it is rare to hit contract targets exactly, it can involve you in complex reconciliation calculations. If you opt for an SMP, you will also have to keep your eye on the reconciliation protocol (see below).
SMP or pay as you go, which is best?
20.7The LAA allows you to choose your payment method; but this means reconciling the contract to give the new arrangement a fresh start. If you have a strong cash position, or the LAA owes you money, you may want to opt for ‘pay as you go’. However, if you have been paid more money than you have claimed and do not wish to make repayments at once, then you may prefer to stick with the SMP (subject to the reconciliation protocol below). If you are owed money by the LAA, assuming that this figure is less than £20,000, a single ad hoc payment will be made to you. If you owe money to the LAA, then you can choose to make a single payment or spread the payments over a six-month period.