Our restructure

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Restructuring the LSC for the future
New structure
What will the new structure mean for providers?
National account directors

Restructuring the LSC for the future- making it easier for providers to do business with us

As we look to the future we have listened to the views providers have expressed, whether directly or through representative bodies or reference groups. We recognise that the way we are currently organised is difficult to understand and that this has an impact on how effectively we can work together.

As a result, we have decided to simplify how we work so that it is easier to do business together in the future. The changes we are making internally are far-reaching and will take time to implement in 2009; however we have already started. We hope that legal aid providers will see this as a positive move to reduce administration burdens and assist them in planning for the future.

The principles of our refocus are:

The creation of three new directorates focused on:
       - commissioning services into the future
       - operating all our transactional services as part of Business Support
       - fulfilling our obligations as a public body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, through Corporate Services.
The centralisation of all Civil processing activities for a provider’s offices in a single site, within Business Support, no matter where the offices are.This will include all applications, bills and legal help claims. The same will be true for Crime case management.
A single Relationship Manager, as part of Commissioning, will be responsible for the entire commercial relationship with a providerThey will be based as close to the lead office as feasible.
Procurement activities will be separated from relationship management within Commissioning so that supplier development activities can take place without impacting procurement regulations.
Although Relationship Managers will be locally based, they will be part of national teams with specific responsibilities for recognising the different needs of different types of providers.
A separate strategy team will be created within Commissioning to set the future direction for legal aid delivery. This will asist providers in making longer term investment decisions.

A more detailed description of the senior management changes which accompany this reshaping and further insight into our rationale are given below. We will keep you informed of our plans as they evolve and provide early advice of when changes are likely to be seen by individual providers.

New structure

We’re restructuring into three new directorates: Commissioning, Business Support and Corporate Services. We’ve appointed three new Executive Directors to head up these functions

Hugh Barrett, Executive Director for Commissioning
Phil Lambert, Executive Director for Business Support
Hazel Parker-Brown, Executive Director for Corporate Services

The new Executive Team and senior level structure will be operational from January 2009.

What will the new structure mean for providers?

Providers don’t benefit from a one-size fits-all approach to our relationship with them. So we’re focusing management and support on groups that have broadly similar needs.

We place great value on our links with providers, partners and stakeholders whether they are national, regional or local. We will maintain and strengthen these links within the new structure. This will be done by Relationship Managers in the commissioning department working closely with providers, using a tailored approach to deal with the size and scope of different organisations.

We will take a whole firm view to managing accounts. One Relationship Manager will manage all aspects of a provider’s legal aid work including civil, crime and very high cost case contracts.

National Account Directors

We'll tailor our approach according to the amount of legal aid work that providers do. There will be three National Account Directors in the Commissioning directorate leading our relationships with groups of providers according to the level of their legal aid income. There will be a national agenda for each group, with local implementation.

John Sirodcar (currently Head of Direct Services) has been appointed Director of National Accounts for providers with a high level of legal aid income. He’ll also have responsibility for Community Legal Advice providers and the Public Defender Service as well as geographical responsibility for the London, Brighton and Reading areas. John is based at our Exchange Tower office in London.

Paul Davies (currently Director for Wales) has been appointed Director of National Accounts for providers with a medium level of legal aid income and Director for Wales. This recognises the difference in governance between England and Wales. Paul will be based in Cardiff and will also have geographical responsibility for the Cardiff, Bristol, Chester, Liverpool and Manchester areas.

Both these roles take effect from 1 Jan 09.

We will also recruit a Director of National Accounts to lead our work with providers who have a lower level of legal aid income. This role will also have geographical responsibility for the Leeds, South Tyneside, Birmingham, Nottingham and Cambridge areas.

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Last updated: 04 December 2008