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New plans for speedier legal aid processing would benefit clients, providers and legal aid administration. The Legal Services Commission (LSC) today launched a 12-week consultation on proposals for modernising business processes.

The ‘Delivery Transformation’ consultation paper aims to transform the way providers interact with the LSC. More electronic working would:

• reduce the time taken to resolve a client’s civil legal aid problem
• increase a client’s access to and understanding of the current financial status of their case
• enable faster progress on the case, with reduced LSC intervention
• reduce the cost of administering legal aid for both providers and the LSC.

We anticipate these proposals would result in £7million savings per annum on administering legal aid. Based on the work done so far, it would enable providers to see potential for administrative savings, such as postage costs. 

The consultation suggests that, from April 2010, these benefits could be achieved through devolving responsibility to providers and streamlining information transfer. Key proposals include:

• legal aid providers (including advocates) using electronic systems for case administration. Providers would need a computer with email and internet –something most households already have (Office of National Statistics, 2007)
• a more efficient process for civil representation applications. This includes devolving responsibility to lawyers to determine client eligibility for legal aid (means only) in many civil cases via an online application system
• devolving the responsibility to discharge certificates in a range of circumstances
• a more streamlined system for managing client contributions
• electronic billing to be significantly increased.

The LSC is committed to establishing a joint working party with the Law Society and other stakeholders to collaboratively address questions around devolved responsibilities and audit processes.

Helen Riley, the LSC’s Executive Director for Organisational Transformation said:

“We have already received positive feedback on our early testing with providers of this quicker electronic method of working. However, we strongly encourage all interested parties to participate in this consultation so that your needs are genuinely reflected in the final design.”

“We want to ensure that the day-to-day systems and processes of the future are viable for all of our partners and bring real benefits for both them and their clients. That is why we are consulting on these plans as early as possible and welcome all contributions.”

“Of course we recognise that there will be concerns following the recent difficulties with our existing online billing system, which have resulted in its temporary closure. We strongly believe, we must not let these difficulties deflect or delay our future modernisation plans, but learn the lessons from that experience for the longer term. Today’s consultation is precisely about engaging early with the people who will use the system, seeking views on the best way ahead and allowing enough time to build a robust new system in good time for its planned implementation by April 2010 at the earliest, in line with the next planned Civil Contract.”

“Electronic working on this scale is new to virtually all of us but it is also the inevitable direction of the future. We need to focus on this opportunity now to realise many long-term benefits and efficiency gains for providers, for the legal aid fund and, most of all, for clients of legal aid.”

The 12-week consultation will include a series of regional briefing meetings. We intend to publish a response to the consultation during the summer.

Media contacts

Michaela Keating (Tel: 020 7759 0444)

Notes

1. Responses to this consultation can be made online via our website, which would be our preferred method, although we are also accepting paper copies.
2. During the consultation we are also surveying providers about their existing IT capabilities. The survey will contribute to our understanding of the impact that increased electronic working will have on our providers.