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ITEM BV9(a)

BEST VALUE COMMITTEE – 11 SEPTEMBER 2002

LEGAL SERVICES: BEST VALUE REVIEW - PROGRESS REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION TO 11 SEPTEMBER 2002

Report by Head of Legal Services

Introduction

  1. Legal Services Best Value Review took place between May 2000 and February 2001. It was reported to the County Council Best Value and Audit Sub-Committee on the 13 March 2001.

  2. The key areas looked at were as follows:

    • Partnership with private practice

    • Information provided to Client Departments

    • Management structure

    • Corporate legal role

  1. Seven options for improvement with 27 tasks were identified through the Review and action plans developed. Of these tasks, 22 have been completed in full, three have been partially completed and two have not been completed.

    2. Current Status

  2. A substantial number of identified improvements have actually been achieved and put in place, particularly in relation to the provision of information to Client Departments, management reorganisation and formulation of a corporate legal strategy.

    3. There has been only limited progress in relation to the identification of preferred partners to work with the Authority in the provision of Legal Services. Possible partners have been identified but there has been limited scope to provide legal work to them, particularly where this would result in additional cost to the Authority.

    Progress

  3. Option 1: Identify preferred firms to provide legal services work to the unit

    4. Identify Local Partners: conveyancing work has been put out to a number of local firms as part of a comprehensive evaluation exercise to establish preferred partners on the basis of cost and quality of the legal work.

    Identify National Partners: two firms have been identified as being possible partners in relation to providing additional and specialist advice to the Authority. The recent proposal for schools refurbishment under a Public Finance Initiative (PFI) Scheme affords an opportunity to compare and evaluate what both firms could offer the Authority by way of assistance in relation to legal support and project management for this Scheme.

    Outsourcing of Contract and Conveyancing Work: originally contract work was to be outsourced due to a lack of available in-house expertise. This has now been addressed within the existing service but conveyancing work continues to be put out to a number of private practice firms as part of a comprehensive evaluation leading to the identification of two preferred bidders as above.

    Major Projects: identification of major projects discussed with each Service Department as part of the overall Service Level Agreement process. A number of new projects identified and arrangements put in hand to cover.

  4. Option 2: Increase income from existing external clients

    5. Benchmarking Charging Rates: a review of charging rates of both private and public sector firms is now undertaken annually by the Legal Management Team.

    Competition: evaluation exercise has been repeated. Results indicate that Oxfordshire secures the highest hourly rate for undertaking externally funded legal work eg. Planning Agreement work.

    Increased charges: probation Service have been informed that our hourly rates have been increased to £55 per hour. Current in-house rates are £52.

    New Probation Tender: anticipated tender exercise has not happened and we continue to provide Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Probation Service with legal support under existing contractual agreement.

  5. Option 3: Establish new public sector partneres to increase income generation

    6. Partnership with Other Public Bodies: feedback from other public authorities/bodies indicates they are interested in partnership arrangements for legal services although Health and Police are concerned about potential conflicts of interests. Current workloads and lack of additional accommodation has effectively prevented further progress. Continued liaison with District Councils has identified areas of mutual interest, which may result in the production of joint protocols and policies eg. Publication Schemes, Information Sharing Protocol, Ethical Standards Issues.

    Conducting Work for Other Authorities: legal research was conducted to establish that Oxfordshire Legal Services can conduct work for other Public Bodies provided it is done within existing resources. Currently there is insufficient capacity to undertake significant amounts of external work together with a restriction of available accommodation.

    Bid for Other Authorities’ Work: none received thus far although initial expressions of interest have centred on contract and conveyancing matters and has been discussed with District Councils.

  6. Option 4: Operations (Service Delivery) – Introduce new service agreements between legal services and client departments

    7. Draft Service Level Agreements have been produced and agreed by all Client Departments. Review of Service Level Agreements has now occurred with all Service Departments signing up.

    Compliance with the Law Society’s Practice Management Standards has been achieved. Legal Services have applied for LEXCEL accreditation, which is due to take place on the 30 September 2002.

  7. Option 5: Operations – Improve financial information provided to departments

    8. Update Timeframe charging system: the Timeframe charging system to group types of work to improve client monitoring has been updated and a new system of recording is about to be implemented. All Departments want to maintain the present format of information but with the ability to change provided Client Departments identify particular work groups in advance.

    Billing Information: all Service Departments are now supplied with monthly billing information.

  8. Options 6 & 7: Improve management of Legal Services by clarifying the role of middle managers and involving them in the management; and delegate responsibility and budget for corporate Legal role to Joint Heads

    9. Management reorganisation identified in the Best Value Review has been achieved. The four Legal Teams are led by Principal Solicitors. A Chief Solicitor (Howard Perkins) has day to day management responsibility for Legal Services. Peter Clark has been appointed Head of Legal Services and Solicitor to the Council. The corporate legal role has, therefore, been fully integrated within Legal Services. A key task for the Solicitor to the Council is to ensure the approved corporate legal strategy is fully implemented. The corporate role has been subject to a formal inspection undertaken by the District Audit Office.

  9. Desktop Inspection

    10. A Desktop Inspection of the review was undertaken by the Audit Commission in January 2002. A number of issues were raised in relation to the adequacy of links between Legal Services Business Plan and the Authority’s overall priorities. This has now been addressed by a revised Service Performance Plan in which the Authority’s objectives are clearly set out in the context of how Legal Services are to assist Service Departments in the achievement of these overall objectives.

    The corporate legal strategy has been implemented and client satisfaction targets increased. The limited role of performance management was identified and accepted and is being addressed within the context of the Council’s own performance management strategy. No overall recommendations for improvement were made by the Desktop Inspection.

    Conclusion

  10. Many of the improvements identified in the original Best Value Review have been achieved and indeed many of the further issues raised by the Desktop Inspection were already recognised as weaknesses within the Service and active steps were already being considered to address these. The inspection process, however, has been a useful vehicle for driving through these changes and providing a clear timetable for improvement.

    11. As most of the current work has been successfully dealt with in-house the requirement to put work at greater expense to private practice has not been seen as a priority although ultimately good and effective working relationships need to be established.

    RECOMMENDATIONS

  11. The Committee is RECOMMENDED to:

          1. note the progress in implementing the improvement options; and

          2. identify whether there are any matters in the report which should be drawn to the attention of the Executive Member.

P G CLARK
Head of Legal Services & Solicitor to the Council

Background Papers: Nil

Telephone: 01865 815363

19 August 2002

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