The Consortium is made up of organisations that wish to collaborate in the procurement and commissioning of quality legal services. They wish to maximise efficiencies and increase the effectiveness of the external legal support they require to supplement their in-house provision. To this end, following a rigorous procurement exercise, through its lead authority Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council , the Consortium has entered into Framework Agreements with external solicitors firms for the provision of legal advice and support. It also has contracts in place with Barristers Chambers for the provision of advocacy and advice via the Barristers’ Portal.