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Annual Report 2007 - Enabling Service Delivery
In order to deliver on its core objectives, the Board relies on support services across a number of areas. These range from front-line services for solicitors in law centres to the support functions which are based in the Board’s other office locations. The support services ensure that the necessary resources – whether human, financial or organisational – are in place to optimise the service delivery function. As well as developing the delivery of legal services, the Board also recognises the need to develop these support functions, both to assist the Board in delivering on its corporate objectives but also in view of the overall programme of modernisation of the public service.
Legal Services
The Legal Services Section in the head office in Cahirciveen provides the main administrative support function to law centres in the client application phase. In 2007, its main role involved the processing of all applications forwarded from law centres, with a view to granting or refusing legal aid certificates to individual clients. It also managed the authorisation of additional services in some cases, for example the use of a barrister or an expert witness, such as a psychologist, as well as the facilitation of urgent cases and appeals. In all, 2,470 new legal aid certificates were issued in 2007, up over 2% on 2006. In respect of additional services, known as amendments, there were 1,287 certificates granted in 2007, up 17% on the previous year.
A comprehensive analysis was carried out by Legal Services Section in 2007 in order to put in place a more accurate system for assessing the Board’s future liabilities in respect of counsel fees, a significant expenditure item for the Board, which involved the detailed examination of several thousand files. The results of this exercise will greatly assist financial and strategic planning into the future.
Management and development of Legal Aid
The Legal Aid (Management and Development) Section, based in Dublin, has overall responsibility for the effective management of the provision of legal services through the law centre network and private practitioners, for the development of an effective and responsive civil legal aid service and for ensuring that clients receive a quality and professional service.
Human Resources
The implementation of the Board’s Human Resource Strategy, which has 130 specific actions, provided the main focus for the work of the Human Resources Section during 2007. The actions identified in the Strategy informed the development of the HR business plan and organisational priorities for the year. Some of the main HR issues addressed during the year are set out below.
A significant programme of training was undertaken across the organisation. As well as professional training for legal staff, training was offered in areas such as health and safety, soft skills, finance and IT. In all, over 1,700 training days were provided in 2007. Along with this, work was finalised on a model for the evaluation of training and development in the Board, which will assist the Board in appraising the effectiveness of the training it provides and planning for future needs.
The Board’s Partnership Committee met on 6 occasions in 2007 and oversaw the work of its sub-committees during the year. The partnership process in the Board is an effective mechanism for staff to have an input into how things are done in the Board. A new sub-committee, tasked with drawing up an environmental policy for the Board, was instituted in late 2007. The sub-committees of Partnership that met in 2007 were as follows:
> Staff Training and Development
> Communications
> Organisation of Working Time Act
> Equality and Disability
> Health and Safety, and
> Environment.
During 2007, the Partnership Committee had a significant input into monitoring of the Board’s Towards 2016 Action Plan. Progress reports on the action plan were submitted by the Board to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform in respect of pay increases due with effect from 1 June, 2007 and on 1 March, 2008.
Further progress was made in respect of the Human Resource Management System (HRMS) in the Board. The progress made in populating the system will allow the Board to run management reports in respect of areas such as sick leave.
A number of recruitment and promotion competitions were run by the Board in 2007. These included recruitment competitions carried out by the Board under its licence from the Commission for Public Service Appointments for solicitor vacancies in a number of locations. The HR function in the Board was also involved in bringing a number of significant industrial relations matters to a conclusion during the year.
In the area of internal communications, there were 3 editions of the Board’s internal staff magazine, Lablife, published in 2007. A wide variety of topics, from all parts of the organisation, featured in the magazine during the year. Furthermore, the Communications Sub-
Committee of Partnership made progress towards drawing up a new Internal Communications Strategy.
Financial Management
The Finance Unit is the Board’s payment processing and financial management centre. In 2007, approximately 7,500 payments issued from the Unit, not including payroll payments. In terms of management information, the Unit produced monthly financial reports for consideration by the Finance Committee and the full Board. These detailed reports allowed for the regular monitoring of expenditure against budget during the year.
As is the case each year, a great deal of focus was placed on the preparation of the 2007 audit file for the annual audit carried out on behalf of the Comptroller and Auditor General.
The Unit also carried out a tender in 2007 in respect of its banking services, which resulted in the securing of better banking terms for the Board.
Organisational Support
Organisational support in 2007 continued to focus on ensuring that the Board’s services were provided in an appropriate environment. In terms of the Board’s property portfolio, the main development was the move to a new location of Letterkenny Law Centre. Organisation Unit provided facilities and supplies support to all of the Board’s law centres and offices during the year.
This included carrying out market exercises in order to ensure that the Board received value-for-money for the goods and services it procured. Significant tenders were carried in respect of cleaning services for the Board’s premises and also for telephone calls. As well as organising its own tenders, the Board also availed of drawdowns from market exercises carried out by central bodies such as the Government Supplies Agency, in areas including electricity, office supplies and equipment.
The Organisation Unit also acted as the liaison area for Freedom of Information matters and managed health and safety policy for the Board. It contributed to the internal audit function and managed the implementation of the Board’s scheme under the Official Languages Act.
Refugee Legal Service Support Services
The RLS awarded a contract for the provision of interpretation and translation services in August 2006. These services are a very important support mechanism for the work of the Refugee Legal Service and services were procured in approximately 80 languages in 2007. The service provided under this contract was evaluated by a working group, which recommended that it should be extended for a further year, in accordance with the initial provisions of the tender. The Board approved this recommendation, and the contract was extended until August 2008.
Further organisational support was provided through the Corporate Service function for the RLS which dealt with registration of new RLS clients, outreach services, interpretation and translation services, management of the RLS Private Practitioner service, and the management of the grant and refusal of legal aid, including in judicial review proceedings. This function also managed the interaction between RLS service providers and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the agencies dealing with asylum applications, and a number of other corporate functions.
Library
The role of the Legal Aid Board Library is to provide an information service to support the work of the Legal Aid Board. To this end, the Library functions as a central resource for information provision and lending to staff in Head Office and the law centres around the country.
The E-library developed under the AISIP project by the Refugee Documentation Centre (RDC) also incorporated a Library Management System and E-library for the Board, which provided electronic access for Board staff to its library catalogue. This system was launched in September 2007.
The library also continued to support access for the Board’s solicitors to the Property Registration Authority’s (formerly Land Registry) online LandDirect service.
Information and Communications Technology
The main focus in information and communications technology (ICT) in 2007 was on the continued implementation of the 2005- 2007 ICT Strategy. The most notable developments in 2007 were the completion of the redesign of the Board’s website and the implementation of the Board’s disaster recovery site.
The Board’s website (www.legalaidboard.ie) was re-launched in June 2007. It has been comprehensively redesigned to be more user-friendly, and now enables easier access to a wider range of information about the Board’s services. All of the Board’s information leaflets are available on the site in both Irish and English, while the RLS leaflets are available in English and seven other languages. It also includes downloadable versions of application forms for the Board’s services, together with information on financial eligibility. The site provides easy access to recent events such as press releases and publications, as well as more detailed contact information - including maps - for head office, all law centres, offices of the Refugee Legal Service and the Refugee Documentation Centre. The site contains the Civil Legal Aid Act, 1995 and the Civil Legal Aid Regulations as well as links to other relevant government agencies. It is also available in an Irish-language version.
The development of the Board’s disaster recovery site was completed during the year and this will provide further resilience and effective disaster recovery. Thus central storage, introduced in 2005, together with the disaster recovery site will ensure greater continuity and reliability in the provision of service to customers.
The Board’s IT Unit also developed a number of new software applications and managed the improvement of some existing applications during 2007 in order to support and enable better service delivery.
Research
The Board initiated a number of research projects during the year, including a comprehensive examination of the extent of financial eligibility for the Board’s services. Research was also undertaken on the origin and law centre of choice of applicants for the Board’s law centre service. It is expected that these studies will be brought to a conclusion in 2008.
External Communications
The Board adopted a new External Communications Strategy during 2007. The strategy has two main purposes:
> to improve the level and quality of the Board’s communications with the public, clients and all stakeholders including the media, and
> to enhance public awareness of the range and availability of the Board’s services, particularly amongst potential users of those services.
Responsibility for the implementation and development of this strategy was assigned to the Board’s Corporate Services Unit.
Internal Audit
The Board’s internal audit function carried out a range of law centre audits and other examinations in 2007, in line with the annual audit plan drawn up in conjunction with the Audit Committee of the Board.
Health and Safety
In the area of workplace health and safety, staff in the Organisation Unit received training to allow them to carry out risk assessments in the Board’s premises. By the end of 2007, up to date risk assessments had been completed in respect of 25 locations.
Equality and Disbility
The Board’s Disability and Equality Strategy was drawn up in 2007. The purpose of the strategy is to outline the legislative obligations of the Board in the areas of Equality and Disability and the issues that need to be addressed to ensure compliance with these obligations. It also identifies the actions required both to ensure compliance with the relevant legislation and to complement the achievement of broader organisational objectives. This strategy was drawn up by the Partnership sub-committee on Disability and Equality.
There was also considerable liaison with the National Disability Authority in 2007 in connection with the Board’s application under the Excellence through Accessibility Award scheme.
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