1. Portfolio/Number/Name:J/C4 - Legal Aid - changes in rules and increased efficiency |
2. Programme/Activity: Modernising Legal Aid is an ongoing programme of modernisation of regulatory changes required: - To promote efficiency, fair reward and quality in the delivery of legal aid and
- As a result of new legislation
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3. Efficiency | 3.1 Current target; £m | | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
Cash | 5.5 | 9.0 | 12.0 |
Time | - | - | - |
3.2 Efficiencies delivered; £m | | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
Cash | 5.73 | - | - |
Time | - | - | - |
4. Accountable Officer for delivery | Robert Gordon, Head of Justice Department |
5. Project Manager | Andrew Dickson |
6. EGDD Portfolio Manager | Fiona Page |
7. Description of efficiency and actions to be taken | 7.1 What is the efficiency improvement? How will the efficiencies be made? The savings are to be made primarily from:- - changes to legislation and regulation - a number of efficiency measures were identified as a package including the rationalisation of Counsels' fees in civil and criminal cases. This package of efficiencies commenced in July 2004 by regulatory changes where a number of regulatory changes have been completed;
- recently introduced and to be introduced structural changes to the operation of the Justice system that include changes to both solemn and summary court reform; and
- further stages of regulatory changes still to be implemented, upon which the growth of savings to £12m pa will depend.
Other aspects should be noted too:- The Scottish Legal Aid Board's ( SLAB) has an ongoing commitment to modernise Government by the implementation of changes to electronic systems to provide legal aid on line and to implement improved document and case management - to ensure, despite no overall decrease in the volume of work, that such systems operate at increased ratios of outputs to resource inputs. From a position of 322 Whole Time Equivalent ( WTE) in April 2001, SLAB has maintained a trend of staff reduction which saw core staff (on a like for like basis) reduce to 280 WTE by end of March 2006, the level at which is planned core staff numbers will be maintained during the current year. No specific staff or posts have been identified as being made redundant but such savings in staff posts result from natural and managed wastage which are factored in as part of the improved administrative systems. |
7.2 What are the main actions that are needed to secure the delivery of this efficiency improvement? Expenditure by SLAB comprises both the Legal Aid Fund and Grant in Aid. Efficiencies on the Legal Aid Fund are to be made by ongoing implementation of packages of identified legislative changes to regulations identified in 7.1 above. The Scottish Executive and SLAB have still to take forward a number of regulatory changes in 2006/07 to maximise the opportunity to achieve the longer term planned efficiencies; plans are still ongoing which include OSSE. Other more modest, efficiencies have been projected from the implementation of initiatives such as additional checking and anti-fraud procedures. These efficiencies and the efficiencies identified above will require some very modest offsetting resource investment from grant in aid. In addition, SLAB has an ongoing commitment to modernise Government by the implementation of changes to electronic systems to provide legal aid on line and to implement improved document and case management - to ensure despite no overall decrease in volume of work that such systems operate at increased ratio of outputs to resource inputs. Management of both the Legal Aid Fund and Grant-in-aid are supervised by the Access to Justice Division of the Civil and International Group. The Chief Executive and Board of SLAB are accountable for the operation of SLAB. |
8. Associated costs | 8.1 Are there any development or redundancy costs associated with the delivery of this efficiency? The bulk of the planned efficiency will result from legislative change that will precipitate expenditure reduction with only modest offsetting costs. Although there has been a reduction in staff over a five year period, no specific staff or posts have been identified as being made redundant as the reduction in staff posts will result from natural and managed wastage. |
9. Measurement | 9.1 What are the inputs that will be measured? The expected efficiency benefits will be calculated in terms of costs only as the level of output may continue to grow through demands on the Legal Aid Fund with no loss in the quality of service provided. Calculations of the expected efficiency benefits will fluctuate from time to time depending on factors such as :- - the timing of the implementation of legislative changes where there can be delays as the type of legislative changes required are legally complex involving detailed negotiations with a number of interested stakeholders;
- the demand on the Legal Aid Fund affected by any increase in the applications for legal assistance received by SLAB; and
- other new unrelated legislative changes or legal decisions in cases arising in Scotland, United Kingdom or European Union that create additional procedures requiring the provision of legal assistance.
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9.2 What are the outputs that will be measured? The Legal Aid Fund is demand led and hence can fluctuate over time. In addition, expenditure to the fund can be impacted, at any time, by the introduction of any new legislation - which can result in a demand for legal assistance that adds new expenditure to the Legal Aid Fund. Savings, therefore, are not against a static baseline, but are against an uncertain moving target. This means that there are difficulties in measuring the efficiency benefits. A baseline forecast was established essentially by:- - combining the volume of applications already in SLAB's hands and the estimate of the volume of applications likely to be received over the forecast periods;
- assessing the probability of their payment within the forecast periods; and
- valuing the payments on the basis of predicted case-cost trends.
Actual measurement of the efficiencies will be based on the difference between actual costs after the necessary regulation changes have been implemented against the baseline forecast. As part of this measurement, there will be attempts to correlate the implemented regulatory changes with material movements in cost and volume of elements of legal aid. |
9.3 What is the baseline for inputs and outputs? The baseline for inputs and outputs are the forecast data for 2004-05. |
10. Quality cross-check | 10.1 What quality indicators are being used to ensure that quality of service is maintained or improved? The quality of provision arising out of legal aid expenditure is very much dependant on all the legal practitioners delivering the service funded by the Scottish Legal Aid Board. Of the three primary categories of Legal Assistance that exist, civil legal assistance and children's legal assistance are already subject to a fairly well established quality assurance (peer-review) scheme. It had been intended during 2006/07 that similar provisions were to be introduced for all forms of criminal legal assistance but exact dates for implementation have still to be agreed as there was delay in the light of recent difficulties with the Law Society of Scotland solemn fee issues. This will be in addition to SLAB's existing auditing of criminal legal assistance for compliance with the Criminal Legal Assistance Code of Practice. SLAB's monitoring of quality is primarily established through its published performance targets for key service delivery areas. The composite "headline" targets balance timelines with accuracy checks (based upon the checking of processed applications and accounts to ensure that they are free of error). Independent assurance over accuracy is obtained through further checking by SLAB's independent Checking and Quality Unit. This is included within reports to SLAB'S Management Team, the Board and SEJD. |
11. Monitoring | 11.1 What are the arrangements for monitoring the delivery of efficiencies? SLAB monitor Legal Aid Fund expenditure, with reference to the expected profile of expenditure, on a monthly basis. In addition, SLAB undertakes formal re-forecasts of Legal Aid Fund expenditure (in-year and 3 year forward forecasts) at least twice per year. These give assurance over the impact of the anticipated efficiencies on the baseline forecast. In addition, SLAB will, annually; seek to correlate the implemented regulatory changes with material movements in cost and volume of elements of legal aid. |
12. Reporting | 12.1 What are the arrangements for reporting the delivery of efficiencies? Within SLAB: - SLAB has implemented Project Management arrangements for the development and implementation of the regulatory changes and for the quantification of the Efficient Government efficiencies, with an overarching Programme Board.
- A report is received on performance and resources by the Executive team of SLAB on a monthly basis.
- The Board of SLAB receive a report on performance and resources on a quarterly basis.
- A Trends report is received indicating trends of cases and costs three times a year for assessment by the Board of SLAB and SE.
- The Board of SLAB receives regular reports over the year on the Efficient Government efficiencies.
SLAB/ SEJD: - A Vote Monitoring Report is provided to SE monthly that includes actual and anticipated expenditure on the Grant-in-aid and the Legal Aid Fund.
- There has been the establishment of approximately monthly Programme Management Board chaired by the Head of Justice SE that includes discussions on the Legal Aid Fund and forecasting of expenditure as well as monitoring all policy development on legal aid, including the proposed efficiency changes.
SLAB will share the results of its correlation of the implemented regulatory changes with material movements in cost and volume of elements of legal aid at the regular meetings with Head of Justice SEJD - this will be the subject of regular periodic discussion and review between SLAB and SE. The Annual report of SLAB is available publicly when the next report will be available in November 2006. |
13. Dependencies | 13.1 Explain if your efficiencies are dependant on legislation or other structural changes being achieved. As indicated above, the efficiencies are heavily dependant on the introduction of a number of regulatory changes. Two of the four packages of regulatory change have already been introduced, and are likely to deliver the bulk of the saving projected for 2005/06 and 2006/07. Growth in the total savings to that predicted in 2007/08 and beyond, however, will depend on the introduction of the remaining packages of regulatory change including the effect of the parliamentary elections in 2007 as far as the timetable of regulatory change that is possible to implement. In addition, following a consultation exercise on the Strategic Review of the Delivery of Legal Aid, Advice and Information, further changes to legal aid requiring primary legislation were identified. |
14. Use of efficiencies | 14.1 How are the efficiencies released from improvement activity being used to improve front-line services? Any efficiency saving will be absorbed into the Legal Aid Fund, and any budget surplus arising there from will be allocated within the Justice portfolio according to ministerial priorities. |