Electronic working

On this page:

Our plans for electronic working

See Documents for our full response to consultation.

In summary we will:

introduce electronic working, with minimum technical requirements, for providers starting at a point from April 2010
require providers to use the LSC’s systems to make applications for civil certificated work, including conducting the means assessment online
devolve the decision-making element of the merits test to providers where it is deemed that the case is low risk and provider performance sufficiently high
ensure that outreach situations are not impacted by requirements, and to further consider what options can be developed to account for these scenarios
introduce a client database internally, and a client registration process externally, taking into account security and confidentiality concerns
expand electronic billing to cover all civil cases, including certificated work
require self-employed advocates to bill us and be paid electronically
devolve decisions on certificate discharges in non-contentious cases.

Following consultation, we know we need to:

revisit our policy on contributions, and how they are allocated to cases
evaluate different methods of client payments, including direct debit facilities
work with providers and representative bodies to develop the ‘provider risk criteria’ that will determine whether providers are eligible to grant legal aid in low risk cases without prior referral to the LSC for a funding decision
define in more detail our arrangements for support and education, working with representative bodies to address the best way forward
work with representative bodies in developing our contingency arrangements, to ensure that there is minimal disruption to services in the event of system failure
undertake a targeted approach to equality impacts, including undertaking a disability audit of our systems
undertake and publish a more detailed analysis of impacts and benefits following a more detailed technical design
work with providers of case management software, to aid integration with our systems and processes.

We consulted for 12 weeks on our proposals to move to electronic working and to simplify business processes.

We ran an IT survey alongside the consultation.

Last updated: 11 December 2008