Law Centre (NI) Business Plan

2005-2006

About us

The Law Centre’s purpose is to promote social justice and provide specialist legal support to advice giving organisations and disadvantaged individuals.
We provide specialist legal services to members in community care, employment, immigration and social security law, and support the work of advice agencies through advice, casework, training, information and publications.

Main activities

n An advice line open to members Monday to Friday from 9.30 am to 1.00 pm in Belfast and Derry

n A casework and representation service including strategic court work provided on referral from members

n Accredited and other training courses aimed at both experienced and new advisers

n The publication of Frontline magazine four times a year, an annual encyclopaedia of social welfare law, regular bulletins on changes to law and policy and a casework bulletin detailing progress with Law Centre cases

n Quarterly practitioner fora in community care, immigration, social security and on migrant workers issues to bring together advisers to discuss legal issues and practitioner developments

n The production of informed policy comment on changes to public policy and legislation

Recent achievements

Law Centre (NI) achievements in 2004/2005 include:

n a successful judicial review challenging the detention of a woman with a learning disability in Muckamore Hospital. The judgement held that Mental Health Review Tribunals must give adequate reasons why a person should remain detained when the only barrier to release is a lack of funding for community care services;

n securing legal aid in Northern Ireland for a statutory review of decisions of the Immigration Appeal Tribunal following a Court of Appeal challenge;

n obtaining the release from prison of a Nigerian national detained despite a valid visitor’s visa following a judicial review;

n preventing the recovery of an overpayment of £10,000 of Income Support from a mentally incapable person living in long term residential care;

n obtaining repayment of unlawful deductions from wages from five migrant workers by an employment agency;

n settling a test case with a major retailer on less favourable treatment of employees on fixed term contracts. The settlement entailed a review of company policy on treatment of fixed term employees;

n achieving a change in a health and social services trust policy on lifting and carrying by care workers following a legal submission on behalf of an individual with an acquired brain injury;

n obtaining a review of recovery of overpayment of tax credits from a lone parent after initiating judicial review proceedings;

n persuading the Housing Executive to change its policy to ensure nationals of new EU countries registered for work have access to housing and Housing Benefit;

n obtaining, after a test case, an amendment to Social Fund funeral payments legislation to enhance entitlement where applicants have other family members outside the United Kingdom;

n undertaking over 6,000 pieces of advice and providing representation on over 338 occasions in courts, tribunals and before the Social Security Commissioner;

n entering a partnership with the Office of Immigration Services Commissioner to provide training to immigration advisers;

n enabling 51 participants to gain accreditation through the Welfare Rights Adviser Programme and Social Security Appeal Tribunal Representation course;

n achieving a satisfaction rate of over 98 per cent from all those attending training;

n publishing ‘Unmet Need: a study of mental health legal advice and information services in Northern Ireland’;

n producing a photographic exhibition ‘Humans without Rights: asylum seekers in the 21st century’ as part of Belfast Festival at Queens;

n redesigning the Law Centre website, improving its access for people with visual difficulties and doubling the number of visitors to the site.

Introduction

This is the Law Centre’s Business Plan for 2005/2006. The Business Plan sets out our strategic objectives for the first year of our new Development Plan which is published at the same time. This plan also outlines our service delivery targets for casework, training and publications services.

In 2004/2005, the Law Centre met 60 per cent of its strategic objectives. Substantial progress was also made towards realising those objectives not met within the original time-frame. Seventy two per cent of service delivery targets were also met during 2004/2005.
By now, we had hoped that the Department for Social Development’s ten year advice and information strategy document would have been produced for consultation. Instead, it is likely to be published during the period covered by this Business Plan. A strategy for advice services is welcome though long overdue. The strategy will have significant ramifications for the Law Centre and its member agencies. The review of public administration has just published proposals for the way ahead and the government announced its response to the Task Force report on Resourcing the Voluntary and Community Sector. As a result, an advice services strategy for the voluntary sector that helps shape the future is more important than ever. The Law Centre’s model of delivering services relies on a stable and effective voluntary advice sector. Working through the Advice Services Alliance with colleagues from Citizens Advice and adviceni, we hope to play a positive role in delivering a strong independent advice sector.

Key strategic objectives

The main strategic objectives for 2005/2006 include:

n securing funding for a policy development unit;

n obtaining funding for a mental health legal advice service;

n achieving funding to offer two trainee solicitors an apprenticeship at the Law Centre;

n producing a long term financial strategy for the Law Centre;

n ensuring the Law Centre both breaks even and meets the target set within its reserves policy;

n preparing for renewal of Investors in People award;

n developing an accommodation strategy to ensure sufficient office space is available for the foreseeable future;

n introducing an organisational policy to meet data protection requirements;

n implementing recommendations following a review of the Law Centre’s pension scheme;

n securing at least six changes in law, policy or practice as a result of our work;

n providing at least six policy comment papers or submissions on proposed changes to law, policy and practice;

n entering at least ten initiatives in partnership with other agencies to enhance the rights of or improve services to disadvantaged people.

Service delivery targets are set for successful outcomes at all forms of tribunals and courts in which the Law Centre provides representation. Training objectives are set and included in the training plan which is sent to Law Centre members. Qualitative targets for training are set and measured by satisfaction rates obtained through written evaluations completed by participants. A programme of publications is also set out for this financial year.

Service delivery

Casework

The Law Centre will achieve Lexcel accreditation for its casework services to provide an external benchmark of the quality of casework systems and services.

In addition, by 31 March 2006 we will have:

n undertaken at least 5,000 pieces of advice;

n opened 375 new cases;

n taken at least 20 strategic cases (ie cases involving court action or representation which deal with a legal precedent or cover a point of public interest or importance);

n provided representation on at least 300 occasions;

n achieved a success rates as follows:

social security commissioners 55%

social security appeal tribunals 60%

industrial tribunals 70%

immigration appeals 40%

court hearings 50%

Training

The Law Centre will conduct a survey into the potential demand for open learning courses and assess whether this is a development we should explore in delivering training. We shall also enhance existing accreditation of the Social Security Appeal Tribunal course by securing accreditation at level four with the Open College Network.

By 31 March 2006, we will have delivered 32 training days in Belfast and 21 training days from the western area office. Our aim is to achieve at least 90 per cent outcome satisfaction in evaluation of overall satisfaction and 90 per cent satisfaction that course objectives are met. The training will include:

n three Welfare Rights Adviser Programme courses;

n two courses on current issues in community care;

n two courses on social security for lawyers;

n one course on new civil partnerships legislation;

n one course on child support;

n one course on overpayments and tax credits;

n one course on providing representation at social security appeal tribunals;

n one course on recovery of overpayments;

n one course on European Law and social security;

n one introductory course on employment law;

n one introductory course on the rights of migrant workers;

n one advanced course on the rights of migrant workers;

n one course on running an employment case;

n one course on community care law for advisers;

n one course on European Law and immigration;

n one course on judicial review and practice.

In addition, the Law Centre will meet its agreed commitment within the community care legal advice service to provide eight training days for social services staff.

Library

By 31 March 2006, we will:

resource lists for caseworkers

n complete work on community care and social security resource lists;

n continue to update employment and immigration resource lists;

library stock

n continue work on classifying and cataloguing library stock and to add new stock to the library database;

n reorganise the layout of the library;

n produce highlights from monthly lists of new library acquisitions for Frontline and website;
 

organisational files

n reorganise information held by the Law Centre on statutory and voluntary organisations;
 

commissioners decisions

n maintain and update the collection of Commissioners Decisions;
 

immigration resources

n in consultation with immigration caseworkers, rationalise the stock held in the organisation related to immigration;
western area office

n ensure good communication between the two offices on book and journal orders.

Publications

The Law Centre will make its website more accessible to people with literacy problems, visual impairments and those for whom English is not a first language. To benchmark improvements for people with visual impairments, we will work towards obtaining Bobby Approved website accreditation status. We will also enhance electronic distribution of publications and documents including the production of the social security and community care information packs in CD ROM format.

By 31 March 2006, the Law Centre will produce:

n a guide to employment rights (through Queen’s University Servicing the Legal System);

n the social security and community care information packs in CD ROM format;

n a booklet entitled Students and Benefits in collaboration with the Adult Learners Finance Project – a joint initiative between NUS/USI and the Educational Guidance Service for Adults;

n four editions of Frontline;

n Rights in Progress, a guide to the Human Rights Act (third edition);

n six information briefings covering tax credits, community care and immigration issues;

n a migrant workers rights publication (in partnership with the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission);

n an annual report;

n a new casework service and community care legal advice services leaflet;

n three casework bulletins for member agencies;

n the development plan for 2005/2008;

n the business plan for 2006/2007;

n a training programme;

n an updated casework case referral policy;

n nine articles for publication in the Writ;

n regular updates of material on the Law Centre’s website including a new tax credits section on the site.

In addition, the Law Centre will publicise its work and organise public events where appropriate.

Marketing Plan - Addendum to Business Plan 2005-6

By end of March 2006 we aim to:

n consolidate the existing position of the Law Centre by continuing to provide legal services to our members and disadvantaged individuals;

n identify and acquire new members and disadvantaged individuals/groups for whom we can provide an effective service:

    o by advertising our service to all solicitors firms in Northern Ireland;

    o by developing a mental health legal service to commence in 2006-7;

    o by increasing the accessibility of our website for people with disabilities;

n develop the Lexcel System to improve the quality of our service.