Quality assurance for independent advice agencies

Kevin Higgins, adviceni, highlights Quality Assurance developments within the independent advice sector in Northern Ireland.

Background

For quite a few years, adviceni has been cognisant of factors propelling the voluntary sector towards taking a more systematic approach to the issue of quality assurance. In order to ensure that adviceni and the membership were best position-ed in relation to quality assurance, funding was secured from the Department of Social Development under Building Sustainable Prosperity Measure 3.2 to research, design and implement a quality assurance system tailored to meet the needs of advice and information providers. The strands of the quality assurance work are as follows:

• enhancement of adviceni quality assurance systems;
• supporting members as they develop their quality assurance systems;
• review of membership scheme.

The foundations of the quality assurance work were laid by carrying out extensive research into existing quality assurance models including the Community Legal Service Quality Mark in GB, adviceuk’s Achieving Excellence model, the NVQ in Advice and Guidance, ASA Standards and Guidelines framework, Investors in People standard, the European Model for Business Excellence (EFQM) and the Practical Quality Assurance System for Small Organisations (PQASSO) to name a few.

At the conclusion of the research, the Investors in People (IiP) standard was selected as the basis for taking forward the quality assurance work. This decision was taken for a variety of reasons including:

1 the basis of IiP is organisational development through the development of its people. This is quite appropriate to the advice sector, as advice centres rely heavily on the professionalism, dedication and commitment of staff to deliver the service;

2 IiP is a government regulated standard that is recognised by funding partners of both adviceni and the membership;

3 the IiP standard provides links and partial passporting to the Community Legal Service Quality Mark, which has been introduced in GB;

4 The potential for a group contracting approach facilitates sharing and partnership between adviceni and the member base;

5 a financial assistance package suitable for non-profit making organisations is available

Progress to date

In the past twelve months, there have been significant developments within all strands of the quality assurance project.
adviceni has adapted internal management systems in line with the requirements of Investors in People; developed individual staff development plans in line with organisational aims and objectives; reviewed the staff appraisal system and developed improved methods of internal communication.

Member involvement has been maximised via a Quality Assurance Working Group (QAWG) which has over one third of the membership participating and contributing to the direction of the quality assurance project. The QAWG has met twice and has also sent a delegation to London to meet with representatives of adviceuk’s quality assurance team and visited a Quality Mark accredited advice agency

The IiP Group Contracting scheme has commenced, which will see ten member organisations work towards achieving the Investors in.

People standard

Over half the membership have the AIMS IT-based case recording system, with the system generating pro forma reports covering the workload of the centre including a person count, an enquiry count, the subjects on which advice is given and the level of the advice.

Finally, in order that the quality assurance work can have an impact on the entire membership, proposals for reviewing the adviceni membership criteria have been discussed in detail. A set of draft revised criteria has been piloted among the QAWG and an evaluation of this will be conducted before the implementation of any new criteria.

Commitment to principles

The guiding principles of the quality assurance work hinge around the work being inclusive and committed to capacity building within the membership. The London visit reinforced the view that some of the organisations with perhaps the furthest to go in terms of implementing formal quality assurance systems are the very organisations which are at the forefront in working with some of the most socially excluded people and communities.

The independent advice network is diverse and complex, with some organisations well developed and others perhaps newly formed, operating on a voluntary basis and struggling to secure essential resources. The strength of the independent advice network lies in the commitment and determination of those who work within it, its creativity, its innovation and its diversity grounded in the everyday reality of people’s lives. Whilst there is a shared commitment to developing the information, advice and advocacy services within the membership, adviceni is committed to targeting support where it is most needed, and supporting all members to develop their quality systems.

For further information on these quality assurance developments, or on any aspect of the work of adviceni, please visit www.adviceni.net or telephone 028 9064 5919.