The move follows a poll of members of the Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association and London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association, but is widely being seen as a climbdown, as there is no new offer from government.

Representatives from the CLSA, LCCSA and the Big Firms Group met officials at the Ministry of Justice twice over the summer to try to resolve the dispute over criminal legal aid contracts.

The MoJ’s position is that it will not back down on new contracts for own client and duty work from January next year. The CLSA and the LCCSA remain opposed to the two-tier contracts. The Legal Aid Agency is currently processing the 1,099 bids it received for the 527 duty contracts available.