The government's review of its £250m super-panel has been pushed back by 12 months and will not take place until later this year.

The panel, which is run by the government's procurement arm, the Crown Commercial Service (CCS), had been scheduled for a shake-up in January this year, but all 47 firms are now guaranteed a spot until January 2016.

The roster, formerly known as Catalist, covers central government contracts worth up to £500,000 across eight areas, but can also be used to procure work expected to cost more than half a million pounds in legal fees.

Reviews of the panel, which was first launched as a cost-cutting measure in 2007, have been delayed in the past.

In June 2011 the government extended its existing panel terms by almost a year to compensate for a protracted review.

When firms were appointed for an initial two-year period in January 2013 by the now defunct Government Procurement Service, it also retained an option to extend terms by two further years ahead of the next review. One year of that optional extension has now been taken.

A partner at one of the firms on the panel said: "In one sense it's good that they extended it; we were anticipating having to go through a heavyweight tender again. It saves us a chunk of work for 12 months at least."

In the past there has been a lot of demand for spots on the panel. Another source estimated that between 100 and 150 firms competed for places on the roster when it was last reviewed in 2013.

The panel is split into eight lots including property and estates, employment and pensions, finance and regulation and general commercial work. The largest lot, major or complex projects, is made up of 24 firms.

Fieldfisher and Burges Salmon are tied for the most appointments, with places on six lots.

Fieldfisher is on lots including property and estates, employment and pensions and general corporate. Burges Salmon's appointments are spread across lots including finance and regulation, general commercial and major or complex projects.

Addleshaw Goddard is on five lots, including IT, major or complex projects and general commercial.

Linklaters is the only magic circle firm without a place on any of the lots.

A position on the roster is not a guarantee of work, just the chance to pitch for government contracts.

Another partner from a panel firm said lawyers were questioning whether the trouble of pitching for a place was "worth it". They added that some firms on the roster have not received any fees since taking up their positions.

The partner also said that constraints on public sector spending had meant that the panel had been less active since the last review in 2013. "Everyone is on it more or less so I'm not sure running the tender repeatedly produces much… you're probably going to end up with the same people," they said.

The source added that firms were unlikely to pick up new major projects work so close to the election, and that a material change in the pricing structure of the panel would have been unlikely even if a full tender had been conducted.

The CCS declined to comment.