Specialist Quality Mark

April 2013

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION TO THIS GUIDE ...... 4 About this Guide ...... 4 Specialist Quality Mark Third Update ...... 4 Changes...... 4 SQM AUDITING ...... 6 LAA Contracts ...... 6 SQM Delivery Partnership ...... 6 Audit cost ...... 6 Audit process ...... 7 Audit Report ...... 8 Appeals ...... 11 THE SQM STANDARD ...... 13 A - Access to service ...... 13 B - Seamless service ...... 19 C - Running the organisation ...... 20 D - People management ...... 22 E - Running the service ...... 27 F - Meeting clients’ needs ...... 29 G – Commitment to quality ...... 34 CHECKS AND INTERNAL COMPLIANCE AUDITS ...... 37 Internal Audit ...... 37 Check your last LAA SQM audit result ...... 37 APPENDIX A - SPECIALIST QUALITY MARK REQUIREMENTS ...... 39 APPENDIX B – NEW MATTER FILE OPENING CHECKLIST...... 43 APPENDIX C – SQM CHECKLIST ...... 45 APPENDIX D – INTERNAL AUDIT CHECKLIST ...... 47

INTRODUCTION TO THIS GUIDE

About this Guide This Guide is designed to give Law Centres a detailed understanding of the requirements of the Specialist Quality Mark (SQM) together with detailed advice about how to pass the audit. The Guide is part of a set making up a toolkit for Law Centres.

Sadly the SQM is often seen as a hurdle that needs to be crossed rather than a guide to help the Law Centre achieve better management and supervision. The SQM is a collection of proxy measures that have been drawn from well run and high quality legal practices. It sets out a meaningful and achievable framework that, if used properly, should help a Law Centre run more effectively.

Specialist Quality Mark Third Update The third update of the Specialist Quality Mark (SQM) Standard and Guidance was published in 2009 and took effect for all legal aid contracts from 2010. Copies can be found on the Legal Aid Agency’s pages on the Ministry of Justice website at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/legal-aid

Changes The changes made to the standard were principally designed to: • Align the SQM with the LAA Standard Contract; • Allow the LAA to accept the Lexcel Standard as an alternative to the SQM; and • Be a first step towards outsourcing the auditing of the SQM.

The most significant change is the transfer of the supervisor legal competence standards to the LAA Standard Contract.

Other key changes include:

1. Making the SQM less specific to legal aid

The SQM has been amended to remove requirements specific to the provision of legal aid. This change has been made in order to make it applicable to any organisation providing specialist legal advice and to make it comparable with other external quality management standards such as Lexcel. This change has meant that the Supervisor Standards have moved from the SQM into the Standard Contract Specification. The Supervision Standards have been updated to ensure that the case types required reflect current legislation and the work that practitioners are likely to conduct.

2. The SQM will be awarded to a Law Centre, not an office

Previously the LAA awarded the SQM for each particular category and by office. This meant that providers had to make additional SQM applications each time they wished to apply for an additional category or office. The SQM now applies to the whole organisation thus ending the need for any additional applications.

It will be the responsibility of providers to ensure that all their offices delivering legal aid understand and comply with the requirements of the SQM and that they nominate an office to store central records and have a process for sharing this information. Work from all offices is likely to be audited on an SQM audit.

3. A new Equality & Diversity standard

The section regarding non-discrimination towards staff has been replaced with a requirement to have an Equalities and Diversity Policy. The larger the organisation, the more comprehensive the policy required.

SQM AUDITING

LAA Contracts Unless they are pursuing Lexcel accreditation, all Law Centres will need to have been externally audited against the SQM in order to bid for the next round of LAA contracts. Failure to pass this audit could lead to termination of the current contract and ineligibility to bid for a future contract.

Ongoing compliance with the SQM (or other quality assurance system) is also required to ensure compliance with the current LAA contract. Clause 10.2 of the 2013 Standard Contract Terms provides that providers must hold the SQM (or Lexcel) ‘at all times’.

SQM Delivery Partnership The LAA has changed the way it obtains assurance about the quality of its providers.

As part of their strategy, the LAA has outsourced auditing of the Specialist Quality Mark to a consortium of assessment companies known as the SQM Delivery Partnership. The SQM Delivery Partnership launched their auditing service in February 2011. They are responsible for all SQM audits for the purpose of obtaining or retaining a future contract.

Currently, the LAA is continuing to audit the SQM for new and existing providers. In order to tender for any new LAA contract, all bidders must possess an up-to-date quality management standard (SQM or Lexcel) audited by the SQM Delivery Partnership (or a Lexcel Assessor as relevant) – and both now have to be paid for.

Under these arrangements Law Centres will have had to have obtained or retained the SQM standard (or obtained Lexcel) prior to the recent round of contracts. The SQM standard is valid for a 3 year period.

Audit cost SQM Audits now have to be paid for by the Law Centre. The cost of an SQM audit will be per Law Centre and determined by its size and number of caseworkers. The SQM Delivery Partnership’s current charging rates are:

In addition, the SQM Delivery Partnership may offer providers a reduced daily rate of £450 (excluding VAT) where there is extreme hardship. Decisions will be made on a case by case basis.

NB All prices noted in the above tables are exclusive of VAT. The organisation size refers to the number of full time equivalent staff working in legal aid.

Further details of the audit costs are available on the SQM Delivery Partnership’s website:

http://www.sqm.uk.com/images/stories/SQM_Audit_Pricing_Aug_11_amended_Oct_1 1.pdf

Audit process Law Centres will have a ‘post Quality Mark’ audit which will be carried out on the Law Centre’s premises. The direction your particular audit takes will have been suggested from any past audit results and performance monitoring. Auditors will concentrate on ‘processes’ - how things operate in practice, and ‘procedures’ – a written description of a process.

How long will it take?

For Law Centres with up to 15 full time equivalent staff, it is likely that the on-site visit will take up to one day. Larger Law Centres may need to allocate two or more days for their audit.

The audit process

The auditor will conduct an opening meeting and will then examine ongoing compliance with the SQM requirements and ensure that they are in effective operation. Progress against specific action plans and target dates set by the auditor, as part of any previous audit, will also be examined. This will be determined through review of relevant policy and strategy documents and an assessment of a number of client files. The auditor will also check file reviews carried out on matter files.

No set number of files is reviewed. The typical number will depend on the volume of work the provider does in a particular category but is likely to be as follows:

Size of Law Approximate number of files per category of law Centre Small 10 – 15 files Medium 15 – 20 files Large 20 -25 Files

The files will typically be a sample of open and closed files (the latter will be used to check closing procedures).

The auditor will also meet with some of the provider’s key staff members, including the Supervisors, Quality Representative and relevant caseworkers, to discuss procedures and practices. Supervisors are likely to be asked about matters which fall within their responsibility such as the allocation of work, their methods of supervision and file reviews.

Typical numbers of staff interviewed are likely to be as follows:

Size of Law Typical numbers of staff Centre Small Up to 5 staff including each supervisor, quality representative, trainee/new member of staff Medium up to 10 staff Large up to 10 staff

The auditor will finish the audit by holding a closing meeting.

Audit Report At the outcome of the audit, a report will be produced dealing with:

• Evidence of compliance with the SQM requirements

The auditor will examine and report against each section of the SQM Framework (sections A – G) to determine whether or not the evidence provided demonstrates that the SQM requirements have been met.

• Observations

Observations form part of the audit findings but will not result in recorded quality concerns. All observations will be noted as areas where the quality requirements are not fully complied with but where there is evidence of a clear commitment to fully meet the standard. For some observations the Law Centre may be required to submit details of the corrective action. An example of an observation could be where say 10% of file reviews are not undertaken in the correct manner but there is nonetheless evidence that the procedure is generally working effectively under normal circumstances.

• Quality concerns, which can be general or critical

General Quality Concerns are those more closely associated with the management and operational control of the service.

For the concern to be classified as general, it is judged as not likely to have a serious impact on the overall quality of the Law Centre’s work or to undermine the quality of advice given to a client. Where two or more General Quality Concerns are recorded, this may lead to a Critical Quality Concern being raised. This is likely to occur when the auditor considers the extent of the breakdown in a Law Centre’s quality system to be sufficient to undermine the quality of advice or client care.

Critical Quality Concerns are those directly associated with the quality of advice and client care.

For the concern to be classified as Critical, there will be evidence that a requirement in the standard is not being met, or is not in effective operation, and this is likely to undermine the quality of advice or service given to clients.

A Critical Quality Concern will also be raised where a General Quality Concern or Observation has been recorded and satisfactory corrective action is not received or implemented within the required timescale.

Appendix B of the SQM sets out the SQM requirements and whether they are classified as General or Critical.

General or Critical?

At Appendix A of this guide is a Keycard showing the classification of quality concerns

• Corrective action

Where the recommendation is to pass with corrective action within 28 calendar days of the audit, the applicant will be required to submit to the auditor the detail of corrective action taken, or proposed, to satisfy the Quality Concern, or those observations requiring corrective action. The auditors may use their discretion to extend or shorten the period for corrective action depending on the severity of the matter.

For General Quality Concerns or Observations requiring corrective action, failure to submit to the auditor the detail of the corrective action taken or proposed within the allowed 28 calendar days will result in the issue of a Critical Quality Concern. You will then have a further 28 calendar days to submit satisfactory corrective action.

For Critical Quality Concerns where satisfactory corrective action is not submitted within the 28 calendar days, a recommendation will be made to refuse or terminate the SQM.

The auditor’s recommendations will be signed off by the lead auditor prior to confirmation being sent to the Law Centre. Depending on the above the result will be one of:

• Pass (or continue)

• Pass (or continue) with acceptable corrective action – usually relating to general quality concerns in non-critical management areas. The auditor will require the provider submit (within 28 calendar days of the audit) evidence that the corrective action has been completed, to satisfy the Quality Concerns and/or Observations

• Terminate (recommendation to terminate the SQM) – usually relating to critical quality concerns which cannot be addressed within the period allowed – for example having a supervisor who does not meet the relevant requirements; or where satisfactory corrective action has not been provided for Critical Quality Concerns where corrective action was possible within the period allowed

Following a successful Post QM audit, the Law Centre will be granted the full SQM, which is valid for 3 years.

Appeals An appeal process is available to all providers ‘facing a refusal or termination of an award at any stage in the process’. In that case, you may appeal on the following grounds:

Procedural Error - where the audit was not correctly carried out

Unreasonableness - where the auditor refused to accept a reasonable explanation as to why a Critical Quality Concern should have been disregarded and therefore should not have had the effect of leading to the issue of a refusal or termination

Any other reasonable grounds an appeal on the grounds of unreasonableness will need to demonstrate that the information provided had been misinterpreted, or had been given undue weight in the context of the audit process or that the auditor had failed to take into account material evidence / facts in existence at the time of the audit

An appeal must be submitted in writing to the SQM Delivery Partnership (and not to the LAA) within 14 calendar days of the date of the notice of the decision.

They will then confirm their decision, in writing, with reasons usually within 14 calendar days of receipt of the appeal.

However, there is no written confirmation that an organisation can appeal other outcomes, for example, Pass with Corrective Action or Pass with Observations, which the Law Centre does not agree with. Notwithstanding this, we believe that it will be possible for a Law Centre to request an informal review of the decision and it would certainly make sense to attempt this by writing to the auditor setting out the matters with which you disagree and the reasoning to substantiate your argument. The SQM Delivery Partnership is performing a public function on behalf of the LAA and therefore there should be an overriding right to a review / reconsideration, akin to that contained within Clause 27.1 of the Standard Contract Terms.

Clause 27.1 provides: “If you disagree with any action [the LAA has] taken or not taken, or a decision [the LAA has] made, under this Contract you must, through your Contract Liaison Manager, provide details of the matter in writing to [the LAA’s] Contract Manager to

© Law Centres Network Page | 11 request an informal reconsideration of the action, inaction or decision. Any such request must be made within 21 days of the action or inaction or the date [the LAA notifies] you of the decision.”

If a Law Centre disagrees with the informal reconsideration or no reconsideration is provided within 28 days, if applicable they may be able to invoke the formal review procedure (Clauses 27.3 of the Standard Contract Terms) or apply for dispute resolution (Clause 28.1 of the Standard Contract Terms).

THE SQM STANDARD

The SQM is divided into seven quality areas:

• A: Access to service

• B: Seamless service, including signposting and CLS provisions

• C: Running the organisation, plans and organisational issues

• D: People management

• E: Running the service, including file provisions and file reviews

• F: Meeting clients’ needs, with most of the client care issues

• G: Commitment to quality, complaints and feedback

This section identifies key issues of compliance and non-compliance within the standard, to assist you in identifying the areas you should concentrate on and the best ways of demonstrating compliance.

A - Access to service

A1 Business Planning

Requirement:

A1.1 You will require a current business plan setting out, in detail for the current year, and in outline for the following two years, the key objectives of the Law Centre.

A1.2 The current business plan must be reviewed, at least every six months, and a record of that review must be kept until the next audit, as a minimum.

Recommendations:

Check your business or service plan and find the documented six-monthly reviews.

The guidance to the SQM sets out what is expected to be seen in a Business/Service Plan. Some things to think about when devising or revising your business/service plan are:

. LAA Contracting strategies

Law Centres need to keep up to date with LAA contracting strategies and the only way to influence them is to get involved. You also need to work out the likely impact on your Law Centre and undertake real risk analysis in order that you can plan accordingly.

. A SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) is essential

. Networking and marketing activity

While the SQM does not expect a separate marketing plan, it is clear from the guidance that certain aspects of a marketing plan (e.g. the market you intend to target) are expected to be included in a business plan.

. An action plan

An action plan should be devised showing, in detail for the current year and also in outline for the following two years, your Law Centre’s key objectives.

The guidance requirements from the SQM are reproduced below:

The plan (which may be a number of related documents or a single plan) must:

- Be relevant to your own organisation’s aims and objectives

- Include details about how each item is going to be achieved

- Have been developed having regard to the following information (to which you can demonstrate that you have access):

- Description of the client group(s) to be served – i.e. the actual market you intend to target

© Law Centres Network Page | 14 - Details of services to be delivered – i.e. fields of law, levels and types of work undertaken, charging rates or policy and anticipated volume of cases/clients, as well as details for any additional or enhanced services planned (e.g. what is to be offered, to whom, on what basis, and from when).

- Details of opening hours and access arrangements – i.e. how you deliver services and whether you offer facilities to aid access (e.g. hospital or home visits, and access arrangements for people with disabilities).

- A summary of caseworkers’ areas of expertise and professional/legal qualification – i.e. who covers which types of case and what their status is as a caseworker.

- A finance plan/budget – the monetary impact, in broad terms, of the planned service on income and expenditure (and any capital investment), i.e. an analysis that shows how you can afford to deliver the planned services (including steps to secure funding or to generate investment capital if necessary).

- A SWOT analysis – covering assumptions you have made and taken into account when planning your services (e.g. IT provision, interest rates, other available services, eligibility levels or the impact of dispersal on asylum seekers needing advice in your area), and including reference to any available CLSP needs analysis and strategic plan or other needs assessment/community profile.

- Details about how you intend to promote your services

- For the plan to be “current” it must include all the changes required as a result of the most recent review, plus details of any issue likely to have a significant impact on delivery of the planned service

- A copy of the current plan, or a summary of its key aims and objectives, must be available to all members of staff, as appropriate.

Other funders, such as Local Councils and Charitable Foundations, may have different expectations about what a business/service plan should contain.

The business and marketing plan prepared for the purposes of compliance with the SQM does not necessarily have to match any internal confidential plan. Some Law

In order to be current, any plans must be reviewed on a regular basis. The SQM requires business plans to be reviewed on a six monthly basis. In reality, some well-run Law Centres review plans more frequently, for instance monthly or quarterly. Remember that to pass the SQM audit you will have to be able to evidence these 6 monthly reviews.

Business Continuity Planning

Although not set out in the SQM, clause 7 of the LAA Standard Contract Terms also requires Law Centres to have in place a business continuity plan. This must be reviewed annually.

This requirement is also discussed in the new Solicitors Regulation Authority Code of Conduct 2011, which makes clear that “identifying and monitoring financial, operational and business continuity risks including complaints, credit risks and exposure, claims under legislation relating to matters such as data protection, IT failures and abuses, and damage to offices” is indicative behaviour of an organisation likely to achieve the required “outcomes” in terms of business management (se IB7.3).

For further information, see the Solicitors Regulation Authority Code of Conduct Guide in the toolkit.

A2 Promoting Your Service

Requirement:

A.2.1 Details must be made available to clients and members of the public about the type of work you do, you must take action to amend this and other information you distribute, where there is any change that has an impact on access and/or the services offered.

Recommendations:

You need to provide up-to-date information for Community Legal Advice (now available on the DirectGov website (www.direct.gov.uk)) and Law Society’s website/database.

A3 Equality of Access

Requirement:

A3.1 A written non-discrimination policy must be in place and available to all staff covering the provision of services to clients, which precludes discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, ethnic or national origins, sex, marital status or sexual orientation, disability, age or religion or belief.

A3.2 Where organisational principles or charter provide for the service to be offered only to a specific client group, this is detailed in the business plan (A1.1) and reflected in your signposting and referral procedures (B1.2).

Recommendations:

The majority of Law Centres will now have an equality & diversity policy. However, your policy must be available to all staff and must as a minimum meet the requirements of the Equalities and Diversity standards as set out in the SQM.

There are three separate requirements in the SQM for non-discrimination policies: A3.1 covers clients, D1.3 covers staff and F5.1 covers external suppliers. It is not necessary to have three separate documents. It is sufficient to have one document covering the three areas. The requirements in relation to staff are the most comprehensive and they are set out at D1.4 (see below).

Look to review and, if necessary, update your Equality & Diversity policy and procedures. Matters to check could include:

(1) Check whether your policy reflects the SQM Requirements

The standard is tailored to the size of an organisation.

5 – 49 employees All organisations with between 5 and 49 employees must have a standard that achieves criteria 1-4 listed below:

1. All organisations must provide an equal opportunities policy in respect of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, religion/belief that covers at least: a. Recruitment, selection, training, promotion, discipline and dismissal

© Law Centres Network Page | 17 b. Discrimination, harassment and victimisation making it clear that these are disciplinary offences within the organisation c. Identification of senior position with responsibility for the policy and its effective implementation d. How this policy is communicated to your staff

2. Effective implementation of the policy in the organisation’s recruitment practices, to include open recruitment methods such as the use of job centres, careers services and press advertisements

3. Regular reviews of the policy (at least every three years)

4. Regular monitoring of the number of job applicants from different gender, disability and ethnic groups (at least annually)

Any Law Centre with 50 or more employees will have to comply with additional monitoring requirements which are set out in the Standard.

Guidance on policies is also contained in the following LAA publication: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/legal-aid/civil-contracts/lsc-equality-and- diversity-guidance-for-providers-aug-2012-.pdf

(2) Check whether your policy reflects recent legislation such as the Equality Act 2010

The Act simplified and replaced various Acts and Regulations (as amended) including: . The Equal Pay Act 1970; . The Sex Discrimination Act 1975; . The Race Relations Act 1976; and . The Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

(3) Check that there is a named person with responsibility for the policy.

There must be a named person with responsibility for implementing equality & diversity in the policy and in any document showing lines of responsibilities and key decision makers. The policy must also outline the action to be taken if any breaches occur.

Reviews of the policy must be undertaken at least every three years.

If relevant, for Law Centres whose organisational principles require them to offer services to a specific group, they must specify the arrangements for explaining their approach to all those who are not in the target client group(s) and for signposting and/or referring them to alternative providers.

A sample equality & diversity policy is available as part of the Quality Manual section of the toolkit.

B - Seamless service

B1 Signposting and referral

Requirements:

B.1.1 Members of staff must know when to use signposting and referral.

B1.2 You must have a procedure and process(es) for conducting signposting and referral and this must be in effective operation.

B1.3 Records of referrals must be maintained (including records of all instances where no suitable service provider could be found), and reviewed at least annually.

B1.4 Access to the CLS Legal Adviser Directory should available, and there must be a process to ensure that details about alternative service providers are kept up to date.

Recommendations:

It is worth reviewing your procedure. Many people used the first version of the SQM when drafting their own procedures but the current version is actually much less onerous.

A sample signposting and referrals procedure is available as part of the Quality Manual section of the toolkit.

© Law Centres Network Page | 19 You do not need to keep any records of signposting but must keep records of referral. There are generally few referrals that you need to record, so the annual review of referrals is unlikely to take long.

Staff knowledge and training is very important. Staff must be able to demonstrate how they identify when to signpost and when to refer.

NB that information for Community Legal Advice is now available on the DirectGov website (www.direct.gov.uk).

C - Running the organisation

C1 Staff and Management Structure & Independence

Requirement:

C1.1 A document must be available to all members of staff that identifies them, their current jobs and lines of responsibility.

C1.2 A document must be available to all members of staff that identifies those with key roles and decision-making responsibilities.

C1.3 The organisation must confirm and demonstrate provision of independent advice.

Recommendations:

Updating the staff structure seems like a chore; but new people will appreciate it! Don’t forget that you need to get LAA approval of all personnel working under the Contract.

C2 Finance

Requirement:

C2.1 One person (or persons, in the case of a management committee) must be named as having overall responsibility for financial control, and any financial responsibilities that are delegated to other individuals must be documented.

C2.2 There must be financial processes that cover the production and use of financial information, including, as a minimum:

(a) An annual profit and loss/income and expenditure account and annual balance sheet. (b) An annual budget covering income and expenditure including any proposed capital expenditure.

C2.3 There must be confirmation of independent financial reviews for each accounting period.

C2.4 The organisation will need to produce a quarterly variance analysis of income and expenditure against budget, and the overall financial position must be reviewed, at least every six months, and a record of the review content outcome kept.

Recommendations:

A senior named person should have responsibility for financial matters. This can be detailed in your quality manual or otherwise.

You need to keep up to date your annual budget, monthly or quarterly variance analysis, finance plan and reviews, audited accounts and evidence of your professional indemnity insurance cover. Check your financial records and find the documented six-monthly reviews.

Budget

The budget should be a financial representation of the Business Plan – one year in detail and preferably a further two, in outline at least.

You need to try to make it as accurate as possible, by looking back at the historic data and forward at increases or decreases which you know are likely to happen. The ideal time to prepare a budget is towards the end of the financial year, when final figures are reasonably predictable; but sufficiently in advance to allow for adjustments.

The more people at all levels that can be involved in preparing the budget, the more they will understand it and be prepared to work within it.

Variance analysis

The SQM requires Law Centres to monitor the variance of actual income and expenditure against budgeted income and expenditure on a monthly/quarterly basis.

Cashflow Statement

Although not in the SQM, a new requirement of the Standard Contract (clause 4.1 Standard Contract terms) is to have a cashflow statement.

A cashflow statement reflects a Law Centre’s liquidity and, as an analytical tool, it is useful in determining the short-term viability of the Law Centre.

A Law Centre’s accountants will be able to draw this up.

D - People management

D1.1-2 Job Descriptions

Requirement:

D1.1 A current job description must be available for every member of staff, and a job description and person specification must be available for every post to be recruited.

D1.2 All staff must know their current responsibilities and objectives, and these must be documented.

Recommendations:

Job descriptions must be in existence for all staff. These are most useful if they are personal rather than generic. They should be updated regularly.

Appraisals provide an opportunity to review them to make sure they are current.

D1.3 Equality & Diversity

Requirement:

D1.3 You must have a written Equality and Diversity Policy for the provision of services that is in effective operation.

D1.4 An open recruitment process must be in operation.

Recommendations:

As regards your Equality & Diversity policy, see the recommendations above in relation to A3 – Equality of Access.

For your recruitment process to be considered ‘open’, you must be able to demonstrate that for each available permanent vacancy, the job is offered to the most suitable individual, on the basis of an objective and consistent assessment against requirements that you set relating to the role’s key tasks and responsibilities as well as any relevant personal attributes that you seek.

A sample recruitment policy is available as part of the Quality Manual section of the toolkit.

All short listed candidates (as a minimum) must be able to obtain feedback from assessment (if they request it), with assessment records being kept for all applicants and candidates (whether shortlisted or not) for at least 12 months.

D2 Induction, appraisal & training

Requirement:

D2.1 An induction process must exist for people who join the organisation.

D2.2

D2.3 Individual training and development plans must be produced, and reviewed at least annually. The review must be recorded.

D2.4 All training must be recorded.

Recommendations:

Most Law Centres have little trouble with the requirement for an induction; but it is always worth chasing any induction records that are missing. Inductions should be carried out within two months of the person joining.

Appraisals, by contrast, always seem to fall behind the timetable; but make sure you do a complete set every year.

It’s useful to consider as much objective evidence as possible as part of appraisal.

It is also the ideal time to discuss individual training and development plans so that supervisors can look out for suitable courses.

The Contract requires at least 6 hours training in each category of law in which they work, for both supervisors and caseworkers. The LAA prefers it to be Law Society CPD accredited training; but you may be able to justify it if it was not (see D5.1).

Sample procedures and records to help the Law Centre in meeting these requirements are available as part of the Quality Manual section of the toolkit.

D3 Supervision

Requirement:

D3.1 You must have a named supervisor available to supervise caseworkers in each specialist category of law your organisation offers.

D3.2 Each supervisor must have appropriate experience of the category supervised.

© Law Centres Network Page | 24 D3.3 The supervisors’ training records show that they maintain and extend technical legal knowledge to a minimum level of six CPD hours (or equivalent) per year, and that this part of their training relates directly (or can be applied directly) to the area of law being supervised.

D3.4 There must be arrangements (relating to time spent supervising and numbers supervised) to ensure that each supervisor is able to conduct their role effectively.

Recommendations:

The category specific supervision standards are now included within the LAA Contract. If your supervisor does not meet the LAA’s standards, you will lose your contract.

Check that their training is up to date and their training records reflect the current position.

Ask supervisors to fill out the appropriate Self Declaration Form and take on suitable cases as soon as possible if there are gaps.

For further information about qualifying as a LAA supervisor, see the ‘Supervising and Developing your team’ Guide in this toolkit.

D4 Case allocation & systems of supervision

Requirement:

D4.1 You must have a process(es) to ensure that staff are allocated cases according to the role they are required to fulfil and on the basis of their skills, competence and capacity.

D4.2 Effective systems of supervision must exist that are tailored to the skills and competence of individual members of staff.

D4.3 All members of staff must know their own limits and be aware of the need to inform their supervisor if a case is beyond them.

D4.4 There must be ready access to current relevant legal reference materials.

D4.5 A process exists for giving timely information to staff about changes in law, practice and procedure that are pertinent to the service they deliver.

D5.1 Training records must show that, in each 12-month period, every casework member of staff receives a minimum of six hours’ training, of which 50% (or 100% for crime caseworkers) relates directly to the relevant category of law.

D5.2 All caseworkers must have a professional legal qualification or conduct a minimum of 12 hours’ casework per week (or equivalent).

Recommendations:

Supervisors need to be aware of their colleagues’ caseloads. People worry about whether their supervision arrangements are acceptable but it’s quite simple. The SQM does not expect you to waste time annoying people who know what they are doing and do not need day-to-day supervision; but they do expect you to provide adequate support and guidance to trainees and inexperienced staff.

Volunteers Be aware that if Law Centres wishes to use volunteers on LAA casework, they must either hold a professional legal qualification or conduct at least 12 hours casework per week (see D5.2). Further, they are subject to all of the provisions contained in the SQM. For example, as like all other caseworkers, they must be provided with an induction, a job description, a training plan and a training record and must also have an appraisal.

Supervision You need to be able to demonstrate that you have effective supervision procedures in place. A very helpful list of activities is provided in the guidance to D4.2.

• Checking and allocating incoming post • Checking samples of outgoing post • Regular supervisory sessions to discuss: (i) New cases taken (ii) Progress in existing cases (iii) Tactics, options, use of undertakings, and content of complex case plans where necessary (iv) Outcomes of cases completed since the last session (v) Training needs and professional development

For further information about supervision, see the ‘Supervising and Developing your team’ Guide in this toolkit.

E - Running the service

E1 File Management

Requirement:

E1.1 A file management system must be in place, producing detailed lists of open and closed cases.

E1.2 Documented procedures must be effective in:

. Identifying potential conflicts of interest . Locating files and tracing documents, correspondence and other items relating to any matter that is open or has been closed for less than six years . Maintaining a backup record of key dates . Recording solicitor undertakings (their authorisation and monitoring, including discharge) given on behalf of the organisation . Monitoring files for inactivity at pre-determined intervals

E1.3 Case files must be presented in an orderly and logical manner. Ensure that key information is readily apparent to someone other than the person who normally has conduct of the case.

Recommendations:

Reviewing the list is a good opportunity for the supervisor to spot potential problem files early on, e.g. dormant files which should be re-activated or those that should be closed.

E2 File review

Requirement:

E2.1 Your file review procedure must document, for each casework member of staff, the number of cases to be reviewed in each category of work, the frequency, and method of review, the manner in which review findings are communicated and how corrective action is dealt with.

E2.2 The review process must be managed by the category supervisor.

E2.3 All reviews must be carried out by a suitably qualified individual.

E2.4 Conduct of a file review (and details of any corrective action to be taken) must be evident from the case file.

E2.5 A comprehensive record of findings must be produced for each file review.

E2.6 Records of file reviews must be monitored at least annually, with action taken to improve performance where negative trends are identified.

The Achilles heel of many organisations but they have to be done. These can now be enforced through the LAA Contract (Standard Civil Contract – specification, clause 2.31). If they are done conscientiously they are the procedure that will keep files compliant. It’s worth making the effort to keep them up to date.

The temptation to back date file reviews when you have overlooked doing them at the appropriate time should be resisted. The important thing is to get back on track and do them conscientiously from now on, but be ready to offer a reasonable explanation to your auditor for your past omissions.

Annual review of records to identify trends - It’s important to be honest. The auditors will not be impressed if you say you find no evidence of patterns where they are pretty obvious. You don’t have to be perfect; but you need to address weak points.

F - Meeting clients’ needs

F1 Individual cases – at the outset

Requirement:

F1.1 In all cases of one-off advice the caseworker records and, unless one of the specified exemptions applies, clients are provided with written confirmation of:

(a) Their requirements or instructions.

(b) The advice given and, where appropriate, action to be taken by the organisation.

(c) The name and status of the person dealing with the matter and whom to approach should the client be dissatisfied with the service provided.

(d) Information given and received about methods of case payment and/or case funding.

F1.2 Wherever a file is opened, unless exceptional circumstances apply, the caseworker must confirm the above records (F1.1(a)–(d)) in writing to the client at the earliest opportunity, together with the following:

(b) Key dates in the matter.

(c) Advance costs information, including, as applicable: likely overall costs, the organisation’s charges/fees, cost-benefit and risk, and any potential liability (if legally aided, in contentious (and potentially contentious) matters and for any third party costs in non-contentious matters).

(d) Further costs information (applicable where F1.2 (c) applies), including the arrangements for updating costs information (as required in F2), and any reasonably foreseeable payments that the client may have to make to the organisation or a third party.

Recommendations:

If you get this stage right, chances are that the rest of the case will comply too!

Send the letters confirming instructions, advice & action; name & status of caseworker and how to complain as soon as possible after the first meeting.

File opening checklist

Attached at Appendix B of this guide is a sample checklist which can be adapted for file opening procedures.

Risk Management This is not an area which is specifically covered in the SQM. However, it is an area covered in the Solicitors Regulation Authority Handbook (and is an area featured heavily in the Law Society’s Lexcel standard). For further information on risk management, see the Solicitors Regulation Authority Code of Conduct Guide in this toolkit.

F2 Progress of the case

Requirement:

© Law Centres Network Page | 30 F2.1 In all complex cases you must have processes to ensure that a case plan is prepared and made available to the client, and that it is periodically reviewed and updated,.

A case is regarded as complex as soon as it is clear that any of the following applies to the case:

. It is subject to High Court jurisdiction (unless evidence is provided to justify no plan being prepared). . Total costs (in any civil or criminal defence case) are likely to exceed £25,000, including disbursements and VAT. . It meets the Legal Aid Agency’s (LAA’s) definition of a multi-party action (see the LAA Manual, paragraph references 1c-029 to 1c-031). . It is to be submitted to the LAA’s Special Cases Unit (for civil funding) or the Criminal High Cost Cases Unit (for criminal funding). A case plan must be produced as soon as any of the above applies.

F2.1 Issues raised in the case and any subsequent changes and proposed action must be explained to the client, and progress generally (or reasons for lack of progress) must be confirmed in writing to the client (unless exceptional circumstances apply), at appropriate stages, but not less than every six months.

F2.3 Clients are to be informed, in writing (unless exceptional circumstances apply), of costs as the case progresses, including:

(a) Actual cost to date and disbursements incurred (including VAT). This information should be provided at regular intervals (and not less than every six months).

(b) Any changed circumstances that will, or that are likely to, affect the overall amount of the costs, the degree of risk involved, or the cost-benefit to the client of continuing the case.

(c) The overall costs estimate and any upper limit that has been agreed with the client (or confirmation that the previous estimate/limit remains appropriate), at regular intervals (and not less than every six months) or as soon as it seems likely that the estimate/limit may be exceeded.

(d) Any potential cost liability, including being alerted to or reminded of this, and of its effect. In criminal cases this includes providing overall cost estimates at the earliest opportunity, once it appears likely that an RDCO (Recovery of Defence Costs Order) may be made (unless one has been provided at the outset.

© Law Centres Network Page | 31 F2.4 Clients must be informed in writing if the person (or persons) dealing with their case changes, or if the person with whom they should raise any problems with the service changes.

Recommendations:

Keep the client informed. Don’t forget to consider (and record) the sufficient benefit test at appropriate stages of the case.

F3 Case closure letters

Requirement:

F3.1 At the end of the case the client must receive written confirmation, unless exceptional circumstances apply, of:

(a) The outcome of the case, any further action the client is required to take in the matter and what, if anything, you will do next.

(b) The arrangements for storage and retrieval of papers and other items retained and where appropriate:

(d) Return to the client of original documents and other property belonging to the client (except for items that are, by agreement, to be stored by the organisation).

(e) Information about whether the matter should be reviewed in future and, if so, when.

Recommendations:

These are often overlooked. You may need to audit some closed cases to make sure copies are filed

F4 Confidentiality

Requirement:

F4.1

F4.2 Arrangements must be in place to ensure privacy in meetings with clients.

Recommendations:

This is not usually a problem in the office but care needs to be taken if files are taken out on home visits or to Court, especially on public transport.

A sample confidentiality policy is available as part of the Quality Manual section of the toolkit.

F5 Use of approved suppliers

Requirement:

F5.1 A written non-discrimination policy must be in place covering the instruction of counsel or other experts.

F5.2 Suppliers must be selected on the basis of objective assessment, other than in exceptional cases.

F5.3 An evaluation must be undertaken for all performances observed (e.g. in conference or court) and for all opinions and reports received, and any adverse findings recorded so that caseworkers who want to instruct a supplier in the future, and barristers who hold a Quality Mark, are aware of any relevant issue(s).

F5.4 The client must be consulted about the use (and where appropriate about the selection) of suppliers, and advised of the name and status of the individual, for what purpose they are being instructed, how long they might take to respond, and, where disbursements are to be paid by the client, the cost involved.

F5.5 Instructions to the supplier are clear, accurate and comprehensive.

Recommendations:

Reviewing ‘others’ such as interpreters and Counsel can be done at team meetings, with major updating of approved lists done on an annual basis.

A sample policy on the use of approved suppliers is available as part of the Quality Manual section of the toolkit.

G – Commitment to quality

G1 Complaints

Requirement: G1.1 Clients must be provided with information about what to do if they have a problem with the service provided.

G1.2 There must be a procedure for identifying and dealing with complaints.

G1.3 There must be a central record of every complaint made, which is reviewed annually to identify trends.

Recommendations:

You should look to reviewing your complaints handling procedure to ensure that it is SQM and Solicitors Regulation Authority compliant.

It should contain all of the following:

. The definition of a complaint; . Who has responsibility for complaints handling (generally and ultimately in the Law Centre, including who is responsible for complaints made about the person who would ordinarily have ultimate responsibility); . How complaints are identified; . How complaints are recorded; . How to identify the cause of a complaint and respond to it; and . The process for reviewing complaints.

Law Centres should note that, in October 2010, responsibility for complaints handling was passed from the Legal Complaints Service to the Legal Ombudsman. The contact details of the Legal Ombudsman need to be confirmed to the client. You should check your procedures and client care letters to ensure that they reflect this change.

You need to ensure that your complaints records are up to date and regularly maintained and that an annual review is carried out and documented.

A sample complaints policy is available as part of the Quality Manual section of the toolkit.

G2 Client feedback

Requirement:

G2.1 There must be a client satisfaction feedback procedure in place that includes all of the following:

(a) A comprehensive feedback mechanism. (b) Details on how and when the client gives feedback. (c) The frequency and methodology of analysis of submitted feedback.

G2.2 Client feedback must be reviewed at least annually, and the review findings and outcome documented.

Recommendations:

The LAA suggests that you should survey say 25% of clients and you must do an annual review.

G3 The Quality Representative

Requirement:

G3.1 There must be a named individual responsible for overseeing all quality procedures.

G3.2 All quality procedures must be up to date and reviewed annually.

G3.3 The Quality Representative must be aware of instances where processes have been identified as failing to meet the Quality Mark standard, and they will need to be able to show what response has been made.

Recommendations:

This role is not usually fought over; but the secret is to appoint someone who likes systems and will keep everyone on the straight and narrow.

You need to review the Office Manual every year.

SQM Quality Assurance System Checklist

A simple one-page checklist which is useful to check ongoing compliance is attached at Appendix C of this guide.

CHECKS AND INTERNAL COMPLIANCE AUDITS

Internal Audit It’s important not to be taken by surprise by anything the auditor uncovers and one way of avoiding this is to carry out internal audits from time to time. This will give you the chance to correct any problems you find as well as reassuring your auditor that you actively manage your Law Centre.

Your Centre Manager is probably the obvious candidate as he or she is unlikely to be a member of any particular legal department and quality assurance is likely to be part of his or her job description. If you do not have a Centre Manager, your Quality Representative will probably need to take on the role.

Whoever leads this assignment may want to recruit an internal audit team to carry out the detailed aspects of checking records and interviewing members of staff; but this will depend on the size of the Law Centre, available resources, and approach to the task.

Audit Proforma

A proforma internal SQM audit checklist and action plan is attached at Appendix D of this Guide.

Check your last LAA SQM audit result Did you get any Critical Quality Concerns? If so, make sure corrective action remains 100% effective.

Critical Quality Concerns can result in termination of the SQM. If you lose your SQM, you will also lose your contract. Repeated Critical Quality Concerns result in automatic termination. The areas of the SQM that can result in a Critical Quality Concern are listed in page 123 to 125 of the new edition of the SQM which can be found at:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/legal-aid/quality/specialist-quality-mark- standard.pdf

Be aware that when carrying out SQM Control Audits LAA staff also look out for evidence of compliance with the contract. For example:

• Do the management/organisation structure and individual job descriptions agree?

• If the supervisor has to demonstrate compliance through the portfolio route (as opposed to panel membership), can they do so over the last 12 months in relation to:

- The numbers of hours required? - The range of cases?

• Were independent file reviews undertaken by an appropriate person?

• Are the independent file review records completely up to date – if there are gaps, are the reasons for them clear?

• Is corrective action required recorded on the file review forms, with appropriate dates?

• Do they also show what action was taken and by when?

• Did file reviews identify any non-compliances with SQM or Standard Contract requirements?

APPENDIX A - SPECIALIST QUALITY MARK REQUIREMENTS

SQM Requirements Desktop Pre & Post Standard audit QM Audit A1.1 A current business plan setting out, in detail for the current year, General General and in outline for the following two years, your key objectives. A1.2 Six monthly review of business plan. General General A2.1 Up to date details to clients and members of the public about the General General type of work you do. A3.1 Equality & Diversity policy covering the provision of services to Critical Critical clients. A3.2 Where organisational principles or charter provide for the service General General to be offered only to a specific client group, this is in the business plan and your signposting and referral procedures. B1.1 Members of staff know when to use signposting and referral. General General B1.2 A procedure for conducting signposting and referral. General General B1.3 Records of referrals maintained and reviewed at least annually. General General B1.4 Access to the CLS Legal Adviser Directory is available and kept up to General General date. Now on www.direct.gov.uk C1.1 Organisation chart identifying staff, their current jobs and lines of General General responsibility. C1.2 A document identifying those with key roles and decision-making General General responsibilities. C1.3 The organisation confirms and demonstrates provision of Critical Critical independent advice. C2.1 Named person with overall responsibility for financial control. General General C2.2 Financial processes that cover as a minimum: General General (a) An annual profit and loss/income and expenditure account and annual balance sheet. (b) An annual budget covering income and expenditure including any proposed capital expenditure. C2.3 Confirmation of independent financial reviews for each accounting General General period. C2.4 A quarterly variance analysis of income and expenditure against General General budget. The overall financial position is reviewed, at least every six months, and a record of the review content outcome kept. D1.1 Current job descriptions for every member of staff. A job General General description and person specification for every post to be recruited. D1.2 All staff know their current responsibilities and objectives, and General General these are documented. D1.3 A written Equality and Diversity Policy for the provision of services. Critical Critical D1.4 An open recruitment process in operation. General General D2.1 An induction process. General General D2.2 Annual performance appraisals for all staff. General General

© Law Centres Network Page | 39 SQM Requirements Desktop Pre & Post Standard audit QM Audit D2.3 Individual training and development plans which are reviewed at General Critical least annually, and the review is recorded. D2.4 All training is recorded. General General D3.1 A named supervisor is available in each specialist category of law Critical Critical offered. D3.2 Each supervisor must have appropriate experience of the category Critical Critical supervised. D3.3 Training records to supervisors maintain technical legal knowledge Critical Critical to a minimum level of six CPD hours per year relating directly to the area of law being supervised. D3.4 Arrangements to ensure that each supervisor is able to conduct Critical Critical their role effectively. D4.1 Case allocation processes. Critical Critical D4.2 Effective systems of supervision. Critical Critical D4.3 All members of staff know their own limits. Critical Critical D4.4 There is ready access to current relevant legal reference materials. Critical Critical D4.5 A process for giving timely information to staff about changes in Critical Critical law, practice and procedure. D5.1 Training records show that, in each 12-month period, every Critical Critical casework member of staff receives a minimum of six hours’ training, of which 50% (or 100% for crime caseworkers) relates directly to the relevant category of law. D5.2 All caseworkers have a professional legal qualification or conduct a Critical Critical minimum of 12 hours’ casework per week (or equivalent). E1.1 A file management system producing detailed lists of open and General General closed cases. E1.2 Documented procedures effective in: Critical Critical (a) Identifying potential conflicts of interest. (b) Locating files and tracing documents. (c) Maintaining a backup record of key dates. (d) Recording solicitor undertakings (e) Monitoring files for inactivity at pre-determined intervals. (f) Identifying relevant matters and linking files. E1.3 Orderly and logical case files with key information readily apparent. General General E2.1 File review procedures. Critical Critical E2.2 The review process managed by the category supervisor. General General E2.3 All reviews are carried out by a suitably qualified individual. Critical Critical E2.4 Conduct of file reviews (and details of any corrective action) is General General evident from case files. E2.5 A comprehensive record of findings produced for each file review. Critical Critical E2.6 Records of file reviews monitored at least annually, with action General General taken to improve performance identified. F1.1 In all cases of one-off advice, written confirmation to clients of: Critical Critical (a) their requirements or instructions.

© Law Centres Network Page | 40 SQM Requirements Desktop Pre & Post Standard audit QM Audit (b) advice given and action to be taken. (c) name and status of the person dealing with the matter and whom to approach should the client be dissatisfied with the service provided. (d) Information given and received about methods of case payment and/or case funding.

F1.2 Wherever a file is opened, confirmation in writing to the client of Critical Critical the following: (a) The name of the individual with whom, and how, the client should raise any problem concerning the service provided. (b) Key dates in the matter. (c) Advance costs information. F2.1 Case plans prepared in all complex cases. General General F2.2 Issues raised in the case and any subsequent changes and proposed Critical Critical action explained to the client, and progress generally at appropriate stages, but not less than every six months. F2.3 Clients are informed, in writing of costs as the case progresses. Critical Critical F2.4 Clients informed in writing if the person dealing with their case General General changes, or if the person with whom they should raise any problems with the service changes. F3.1 Case closure procedures. Critical Critical F4.1 Confidentiality procedure. General General F4.2 Arrangements to ensure privacy. Critical Critical F5.1 A written non-discrimination policy covering the instruction of Critical Critical counsel or other experts. F5.2 Suppliers selected on the basis of objective assessment. General General F5.3 Evaluation of expert’s performances observed and opinions and General General reports received. Any adverse findings recorded. F5.4 The client is consulted about the use of suppliers. General General F5.5 Instructions to the supplier are clear, accurate and comprehensive. General General G1.1 Clients given information about what to do if they have a problem Critical Critical with the service provided. G1.2 A procedure for identifying and dealing with complaints. Critical Critical G1.3 A central record of complaints made, which is reviewed annually. Critical Critical G2.1 A client satisfaction feedback procedure. General General G2.2 Client feedback reviewed at least annually with the review findings General General and outcome documented. G3.1 A named individual responsible for overseeing quality procedures. General General G3.2 All quality procedures are up to date and reviewed annually. General General G3.3 The Quality Representative is aware of instances where processes General General have been identified as failing to meet the Quality Mark. G4.1 A current office manual. General General

© Law Centres Network Page | 41 SQM Requirements Desktop Pre & Post Standard audit QM Audit G4.2 The office manual is available to all members of staff who are General General involved in delivering Quality Mark services.

APPENDIX B – NEW MATTER FILE OPENING CHECKLIST

File No: Linked File No: New Matter File Opening Checklist

Necessary information Other information

Client details • Full name of client

• Current address of the client

• Email

• Correspondence address (if different)

• Contact telephone number(s) – (h) (w) (m)

• Nationality / Language spoken

• Gender Male / Female (*circle as applicable)

• Date of Birth

• NI number

• Marital Status Single; Married; Co-habiting; Separated; Divorced; Widowed (*circle as applicable)

• Member of any specific E&D target group

Matter • Description of the proposed matter

• Category of work

• Other side

Risk Assessment (use this box to evidence your assessment of the risk of the instructions. Notify the Risk Manager of any unusual circumstances or potentially high risk matters)

Conflict check carried out by whom: ………………………………………….

Any relevant details: ………………………………………………………………

Funding Public Funding

Financial eligibility for Public Funding • Economic status of client (details of income, capital etc.) • Economic status of partner, where applicable (details of income, capital etc.) Evidence of eligibility • Proof of eligibility requested • Date eligibility obtained

Previous advice/funding • Advice sought before on this matter (from any organisation) • Previous funding Key Dates • Court and other Key dates (ensure dates recorded in central diary)

Client Care Letter • Client Care letter sent to client (state when and by whom)

Instructions, advice • Instructions, advice and action and action confirmed to the client in writing (state when and by whom)

Costs Estimate • Cost Estimate(s) provided

Undertakings • Undertakings given (if applicable, state when and by whom)

Inactivity check • Date of three monthly inactivity check(s)

Signature: ……………………………………………………………………………… Date: (TO BE SIGNED BY SUPERVISOR/SENIOR SOLICITOR)

APPENDIX C – SQM CHECKLIST

Completed by: Y/N Y/N Date: N/A N/A Personnel Records Client Satisfaction

Have any new members of staff joined in the last Have client satisfaction questionnaires been sent out to month? clients?

If yes, have the following been set up for each new Have any complaints been reported to the complaints member of staff: handling person? • training plan • training record If yes, has a reply to the client/Legal Ombudsman been sent? • induction plan/record • job description If yes, is a copy filed in the central register? Are all training records up to date? How many complaints have yet to be settled? Do all members of staff have training plans? Is any action outstanding on the part of the Law Centre? Have all members of staff employed for more than 12 months had an appraisal in the last year?

Have recruitment records been kept for 12 months & then destroyed?

Experts Financial Records

Has the Quality Rep been notified of any new experts Is there a current business plan? that have been instructed? Is there a current annual budget? If yes, has the new expert been evaluated? Is variance analysis up to date? Is the new expert approved for future use? Is time recording up to date (up to one month behind)? If so, has the expert been added to the list of approved suppliers?

File Reviews Referrals

Are file reviews up to date? Has the Quality Rep been notified of any client that has been referred?

If no, which reviews are missing? If yes, has a copy of the completed form been posted to the Central Register?

Date of Last Reviews Remedial Action to be taken:

Office Manual: What?

Referrals:

Business Plan & Financial Position:

Client Satisfaction Questionnaires:

Complaints: Date Action Completed?

KPIs:

Checked by: Date:

APPENDIX D – INTERNAL AUDIT CHECKLIST

Standard Requirement Evidence Action required A1 Business Planning This must cover 12 months in detail and outline for years 2 and 3

A2 Promoting your service Up to date details must be made available to clients and members of the public about the type of work you do. Provide details to LAA of type of work done & update details

A3 Equality of Access A3.1 A written non-discrimination policy must be in place

A3.2 (if relevant) Where your organisational principles require you to offer services to a specific group, you must specify the arrangements for explaining your approach to all those who are not in the target client group(s) and for signposting and/or referring them to alternative providers.

SIGNPOST/REFER

B1.2 PROCEDURE FOR CONDUCTING SIGNPOSTING AND REFERRAL

B1.3 MAINTENANCE OF REFERRAL RECORDS AND DATA

B1.4 ACCESS TO THE CLS DIRECTORY

C1 ORGANISATION STRUCTURES ETC

C1.1 DOCUMENT IDENTIFYING MEMBERS OF STAFF & RESPONSIBILITIES

C1.2 KEY DECISION-MAKING RESPONSIBILITIES STRUCTURE

C1.3 INDEPENDENT ADVICE

C2.1 FINANCIAL CONTROL

C2.2 – PNL; BALANCE SHEET; INCOME & EXPENDITURE BUDGET; ANNUAL BUDGET

C2.3 INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL REVIEW FOR EACH ACCOUNTING PERIOD

C2.4 INTERNAL FINANCIAL REVIEWS

NB CONSIDER ALSO CHECKING THE CASHFLOW STATEMENT (SEE CLAUSE 4.1 CONTRACT TERMS)

D1 MANAGING PEOPLE

D1.1 JOB DESCRIPTIONS AND PERSON SPECIFICATIONS

D1.2 KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND OBJECTIVES

D1.3 EQUALITY & DIVERSITY

D1.4 RECRUITMENT PROCEDURE

D2.1INDUCTION

D2.2 APPRAISAL

D2.3 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT PLANS

D2.4 TRAINING RECORDS

D3 SUPERVISORS

NAMED SUPERVISORS WHO MEET LEGAL AND SKILLS STANDARDS

(NB CATEGORY SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS ARE NOW PART OF LAA CONTRACT)

OPERATION OF THE SUPERVISORY ROLE D4 ALLOCATION & SUPERVISORY SKILLS

D4.1 ALLOCATION OF WORK

D4.2 EFFECTIVE SUPERVISION SYSTEMS

D4.4 ACCESS TO LEGAL REFERENCE MATERIALS

D4.5 INFORMATION ON CHANGES IN LAW

D5 CASEWORKERS

D5.1 MINIMUM 6 HOURS PER YEAR TRAINING FOR EACH MEMBER OF STAFF

D5.2 MINIMUM 12 HOURS PER WEEK CASEWORK FOR ALL CASEWORK STAFF IF NOT LEGALLY QUALIFIED

E1 RUNNING THE SERVICE

E1.1 FILE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM SHOWS LISTS OF OPEN AND CLOSED CASES

E1.2 FILE MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES

A) CONFLICT CHECKS

B) LOCATING FILES ETC.

C) KEY DATES BACKUP

D) UNDERTAKINGS

E) INACTIVITY MONITORING

F) IDENTIFYING RELEVANT MATTERS

E1.3 ORDERLY FILES, ACCESSIBLE BY ANOTHER PERSON

File Review E2 FILE REVIEW PROCESSES & PROCEDURES

E2.1A REVIEWS DETERMINED BY EXPERIENCE, EXPERTISE & QUALITY OF WORK, SAMPLE INCLUDES CASES IN EACH CATEGORY

E2.1B REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE

E2.1C REVIEW FINDINGS COMMUNICATED TO STAFF

E2.1D CORRECTIVE ACTION COMPLETED WITHIN TIMESCALE

E2.2 REVIEW PROCESS MANAGED BY SUPERVISOR

E2.3 REVIEWS CARRIED OUT BY QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL

E2.4 CONDUCT OF REVIEW & CORRECTIVE ACTION EVIDENT ON FILE

E2.5 COMPREHENSIVE RECORD OF REVIEW FINDINGS

E2.6 RECORDS REVIEWED ANNUALLY

MEETING CLIENTS’ NEEDS F1 INDIVIDUAL CASES F1.1

A) RECORD/CONFIRM CLIENTS’ REQUIREMENTS/INSTRUCTIONS

B) ADVICE/ACTION

C) NAME/STATUS WITH CONDUCT

D) INFO ON PAYMENT/FUNDING

A) NAME OF COMPLAINTS CONTACT

B) CLIENT INFORMED OF KEY DATES

C) COSTS INFO.

D) FURTHER COSTS INFO

F2 PROGRESS OF CASE

F2.1 CASE PLAN PREPARED & MADE AVAILABLE TO CLIENTS IN COMPLEX CASES

F2.2 UPDATES ON PROGRESS AT LEAST EVERY 6 MONTHS

F2.3

A) UPDATES ON ACTUAL COSTS AT LEAST 6 MONTHLY

B) UPDATE ON COST & RISK

C) CONFIRM/REVISE ESTIMATE AT LEAST 6 MONTHLY

F2.4 WRITE TO CLIENT IF PERSON WITH CONDUCT OR COMPLAINTS CONTACT CHANGES

F3 END OF CASE F3.1

A) CONFIRM OUTCOME

B) STORAGE OF PAPERS

C) ACCOUNT FOR MONEY

D) RETURN DOCS

E) REVIEW IN FUTURE

F4 CONFIDENTIALITY

F4.1 CONFIDENTIALITY POLICY INCLUDING PROCESS FOR OBTAINING CLIENT CONSENT FOR AUDIT

F4.2 PRIVACY AT MEETINGS WITH CLIENTS

F5.1 NON DISCRIMINATION POLICY FOR SUPPLIERS

F5.2 SELECTED BY OBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT

F5.3 EVALUATION OF SUPPLIERS

F5.4 CONSULT CLIENT & INFORM OF COST

F5.5 INSTRUCTIONS CLEAR & COMPREHENSIVE

COMMITMENT TO QUALITY G1 COMPLAINTS

G1.1 INFORMATION TO CLIENTS ABOUT HOW AND TO WHOM THEY SHOULD COMPLAIN

G1.2 COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

G1.3 CENTRAL RECORD & ANNUAL REVIEW

G2 CLIENT SATISFACTION FEEDBACK

G2.1 CLIENT FEEDBACK PROCEDURE

G2.2 ANNUAL REVIEW OF DATA

G3.1 NAMED INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBLE FOR QUALITY PROCEDURES

G3.2 PROCEDURES UP TO DATE & REVIEWED ANNUALLY

G3.3 QUALITY REPRESENTATION. AWARE INSTANCES WHERE QM NOT MET & RESPONDS

G4 QUALITY MANUAL

G4.1 OFFICE MANUAL MUST EXIST, BE AVAILABLE TO STAFF AND MUST HAVE DATED AMENDMENTS

G4.2 OFFICE MANUAL AVAILABLE TO ALL

G4.3 APPLICANTS AND QM HOLDERS USE FORMS APPROVED BY LAA

G4.4 QM INFORMATION. DISTRIBUTED TO QM STAFF

PERSON CARRYING OUT CHECK

DATE OF CHECK