Peer reviewQuality standardsPerformance monitoringPeer reviewCivil legal aid:Social Welfare Law ContractsQuality standardsPerformance monitoringPeer reviewQuality standardsPerformance monitoringPeer reviewQuality standardsPerformance monitoringPeer review:processPeer reviewQuality standardsPerformance monitoringPeer review:processPeer reviewQuality standardsPerformance monitoringPeer review:processPeer reviewQuality standardsPerformance monitoringPeer review:processPeer reviewQuality standardsPerformance monitoringPeer review:processPeer reviewQuality standardsPerformance monitoringPeer review:processPeer reviewQuality standardsPerformance monitoringPeer review:processPeer reviewQuality standardsPerformance monitoringPeer review:tips for passingPeer reviewQuality standardsPerformance monitoringPeer review:tips for passing:standard letters and documentationPeer review:tips for passingPeer reviewQuality standardsPerformance monitoringPeer review:tips for passing:standard letters and documentationPeer review:tips for passingPeer reviewQuality standardsPerformance monitoringPeer review:tips for passingPeer review:representationsPeer reviewQuality standardsPerformance monitoringPeer review:tips for passingPeer review:representationsPeer reviewQuality standardsPerformance monitoringPeer review:tips for passingPeer review:representationsPeer reviewQuality standardsPerformance monitoringPeer reviewQuality standardsPerformance monitoringPeer review
19.39Peer review is the measure that the LAA uses to assess quality of advice. It has been developed over many years under the auspices of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS). Peer reviewers have carried out thousands of assessments since 2000 and refined the process over the years. There is information about the process at
www.gov.uk/legal-aid-agency-audits.
19.40There are five possible scores: excellence (1), competence plus (2), threshold competence (3), below competence (4) and failure in performance (5). The LAA has defined the level of skill required under the Contract as at least threshold competence. At below competence level, the provider will be given six months to improve, if they do not achieve at least threshold competence at their next assessment, their contract will be terminated. An organisation assessed at failure in performance will have its contract terminated quickly, because of the risk to clients.
19.41The LSC published guidance to good practice indicators, which organisations could use to benchmark their files and ensure they achieve good peer review scores, called Improving Your Quality Guides. There were guides for Crime, Family, Debt, Education, Immigration, Housing, Mental Health and Welfare Benefits. The IALS is currently updating these guides. Updated crime, family, housing, mental health and immigration/asylum guides have been published at the time of writing. They can be downloaded from
www.gov.uk/guidance/legal-aid-agency-auditsThe peer review process
19.42All peer reviewers are experienced practitioners, trained by the IALS to carry out peer review using their framework. A sample of their own files has to be assessed at competence plus or above. Peer reviewers are consistency-checked against each other and receive regular training. There are various reasons why a review might be carried out, eg routine bench-marking, or concern about quality raised by a contract manager; but the reviewer is not told what it is. This ensures that they can approach all peer reviews with an open mind.
19.43Twenty files are requested, of which at least 15 are assessed. They are selected to cover all the different types of work carried out by the organisation within a category of law and are cases closed during the preceding 12 months. Peer reviewers carry out the assessment at an LAA regional office. They do not meet the staff of the organisation being reviewed, which never finds out the identity of its particular reviewer, although they are sent a list of all the reviewers and asked to identify any possible conflict of interest. It usually takes one to two days to do an assessment and write a report.
19.44The reviewers evaluate issues that relate to quality of advice and service. They do not look at how long was spent on the file and they do not carry out a transaction criteria
1Transaction criteria will be remembered by many legal aid practitioners from the early days of ‘franchising’. They enabled the Legal Aid Board, and later the LSC, to assess the extent to which a lawyer had obtained appropriate information and followed steps associated with best practice. They did not allow any assessment to be made of the quality of legal advice. They were superseded by peer review. audit. They apply the ‘pick up test’, which is the basic question – if I, as another fee-earner, picked up this file, could I understand what had been done and why, and what remained to be done?
19.45They assess individual files and then consider the sample as a whole and form a conclusion about its overall quality. In many cases this involves a balancing act as some files may be good, others less so. Organisations scoring competence plus tend to have a higher level of consistency. For example, if there is a change of caseworker part way through the case the peer reviewer would look at the whole case, and in order to score competence plus or excellence, both caseworkers would need to achieve that level.
19.46They also apply the ‘friend and family test’, which is simply ‘would I refer a friend or family member to this organisation?’ If the answer is ‘no’, the sample will be assessed below threshold competence or worse.
19.47Peer reviewers use checklists of criteria, which they score individually; but the overall score is not simply an average of the scores on individual files. Peer reviewers take account of any trends and patterns identified, including evidence of supervision. Having assessed the 15 files, the reviewer compiles a report identifying; positive findings, major areas of concern (if any), areas for development, suggested areas for improvement and any other comments.
19.48Reports are checked by IALS to ensure that the score reflects the comments the reviewer has made about the files. So, for example they would pick up a contradiction if the sample scored competence plus but the reviewer had identified major areas of concern, and ask the reviewer to look at the report again. IALS does not double-check the assessment. The provider should receive the final report within 28 days.
Tips for passing peer review
19.49The peer reviewers emphasise that good practice helps to improve peer review scores, for example:
•file review and supervision support;
•ensuring workload is appropriate;
•training;
•providing appropriate advice on legal and procedural issues on every file;
•confirming the client’s initial instructions and your advice in writing.
Standard letters and documentation
19.50Peer reviewers accept that standard letters have their place; but that it is important to take an individual approach to them. This means ensuring that standard letters should not be ‘catch-alls’ which try to cover all eventualities; but should be specific to a client’s circumstances. So, for example, a letter setting out the different possession proceedings in relation to both owner-occupiers and tenants would not impress a peer reviewer, who would expect the client to be given only the information that applied to his or her case.
19.51As in all kinds of file-based assessment, it is vital that the file is complete. Some organisations send information leaflets to clients; but do not put a copy of standard information on the file, in order to save paper and printing costs. Peer reviewers advise that if that is the way you work, it is important to include copies of all standard information leaflets with the file sample.
Peer review representations
19.52Representations can only be made if the assessment is category 4 or 5. The LAA’s rationale is that since a category 3 is acceptable for a contract, there is no point in allowing representations when only the organisation’s professional pride is at stake.
19.53Possible grounds are that: you dispute the overall peer review rating, the sample does not appear to be sufficiently representative, any other reasonable grounds.
19.54Representations must be made on the appropriate form and reach the LAA within 28 days following receipt of the report and the file sample. The representations will be considered by the original peer reviewer and a senior panel member. They may uphold the original rating, revise the original rating, request a new review, or not reach agreement. Where the latter occurs an external expert who is not a peer reviewer will be asked to help the peer reviewers reach a consensus. Note that, if an appeal is unsuccessful, you may have to pay the costs of the peer review under both civil and crime contracts.
LAA monitoring
19.55The LAA is increasingly monitoring firms remotely, using the data firms supply, for example when applying for legal aid or submitting claims for costs. The LAA calls this ‘management Information’ (MI). You can access some of your MI at
www.gov.uk/legal-aid-management-information-online.
•Civil financial statement: this shows the current financial position of a civil office Account i.e, monthly submissions against payments made (monthly contract payments, adjustments and repayments).
•Family mediation financial statement: this shows the current financial position of a family mediation office account ie, monthly submissions against payments made (monthly contract payments, adjustments / repayments).
•Criminal financial statement: this shows the current financial position of a crime office account ie, monthly submissions (CRM6 and CRM7) against payments made (monthly contract payments, adjustments / repayments).
•Financial statement summary: this provides a summary of the financial position of the entire organisation and includes individual office entries across crime, civil and mediation offices.
19.56Unfortunately, it is not possible for organisations to access all MI data to monitor the Contract Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – see below for more information. Therefore, it is a good idea to ask your LAA contract manager to send you this data on a quarterly basis. They can do this and it is regarded as good practice by the LAA senior managers for them to help you in this way.