Legal Aid Board
Introduction
The Legal Aid Board works within a statutory framework laid down by the Legal Aid Act 1988, regulations made under it and guidance and objectives set by the Lord Chancellor. The Board is responsible for managing the major elements of the legal aid scheme established by the 1988 Act and assisting the Lord Chancellor in meeting his aims and objectives for publicly funded legal services.
| | Number of Staff | | | Expenditure* (£m) |
| 1995/96 | 1452 | | 1995/96 | 52.4 |
| 1996/97 | 1565 | | 1996/97 | 53.9 |
| 1997/98 | 1613 | | 1997/98 | 55.2 |
| *Figures represent administrative expenditure. Current programme expenditure is in excess of £1bn. |
The Board's Annual Reports and Corporate Plans are published. The former are available from The Stationery Office, and the latter direct from the Board.
Achievements in 1996/97
During the year the Board maintained the quality of service to its stakeholders at the levels established by the improvement programmes it has taken forward since its inception in 1989. At the same time it focused its development work on projects aimed at providing significant quality improvements in future years. Notably fundamental business process re-engineering, the development of a new Corporate Information System and preparing for the transfer of responsibility for means assessment in the civil legal aid cases from the Benefits Agency. All of these initiatives will be implemented during the course of 1997/98.
Additionally, considerable progress was made in work aimed at improving the quality of legal aid services provided to the public. The Board increased the proportion of legal aid work being delivered by quality assured suppliers. Furthermore it began to establish the pilot schemes necessary to develop and implement more fundamental reforms of the legal aid scheme and the changes to legal aid flowing from the Family Law Act 1996.
The Board successfully passed the triennial review to maintain accreditation under the quality standard BSEN ISO 9002: 1994.
Plans for 1997/98
1997/98 will be a period of significant change for the Board as it implements its new Corporate Information System, and associated re-engineered business processes, and integrates the civil means assessment function into its area offices. Alongside this the Board will continue to expand the quality assured supplier base and develop and implement the legal aid reform pilots. Throughout this period of change it will be aiming to continue to deliver services to the same standard as in previous years, while also maintaining accreditation to BSEN ISO 9002.
Key Performance Targets
|
| 1994/95
| 1995/96
| 1996/97
| 1997/98
|
Key Measure
|
Set
|
Achieved
|
Set
|
Achieved
|
Set
|
Forecast
|
Set
|
Increase the number of quality assured legal aid suppliers
|
-
|
1000
|
>1000
|
1250
|
>1250
|
1700
|
>1700
|
Percentage of civil legal aid applications dealt with within 2 weeks
|
75
|
79
|
75
|
78
|
75
|
81
|
75
|
Percentage of civil legal aid applications dealt with within 4 weeks
|
90
|
91
|
90
|
90
|
90
|
91
|
90
|
Percentage of civil legal aid bills assessed and paid within 6 weeks
|
75
(5 weeks)
|
83
(5 weeks)
|
75
|
90
|
75
|
87
|
75
|
Percentage of civil legal aid bills assessed and paid within 8 weeks
|
90
|
96
|
90
|
96
|
90
|
95
|
90
|
Percentage of applications for amendments and prior authorities dealt with within 2 weeks
|
80
|
92
|
80
|
95
|
80
|
94
|
80
|
Percentage of applications for amendments and prior authorities dealt with within 4 weeks
|
95
|
98
|
95
|
89
|
95
|
99
|
95
|
Percentage of criminal standard fee bills assessed and paid within 4 weeks
|
97.5
|
94.3
|
95
|
99
|
95
|
97
|
95
|
| 
