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The Best Value Review of the Board's Legal and Insurance Service was presented to the Best Value Committee and the Board during December 2001.

 

The Legal and Insurance Service offers administrative support and management expertise to the Board in respect of its day to day legal affairs. It is responsible for all administrative and investigative work involved in the defence of claims for damages brought against the schools, libraries and youth and community facilities for which the Board has responsibility.

 

The section provides a full land and property management service to the Board which includes the compilation and maintenance of a property register, strategic management of the estate and processing of disposals, acquisitions and short term leases. In addition, a wide range of other administrative duties is undertaken by the section including entertainment licensing, data protection registration and records management.

The identification of elements of the Legal and Insurance Service for performance improvement; and the determination of meaningful performance indicators in order to ascertain continuous improvement in service delivery was central to the Review.

 

The Review also sought to explore the extent to which elements of 'Best Value' already exist and to assist in the development of consultative mechanisms in order to discover the thoughts and opinions of staff and 'key users' of the Legal and Insurance Service. The specification of clear standards of performance for the Legal and Insurance Service; and the evaluation of past performance and consideration of future options for the provision of Legal and Insurance Services was also considered.

 

The process used throughout the Review was adapted from the recommended four C's approach of Challenge, Comparison, Consultation and Competition.

 

During the Review process users of the service were involved in the consultation process by participation in a series of focus groups, challenge sessions and by completion of a questionnaire. The users specifically targeted for consultation, included principals, members of the senior management team and service managers and staff.

 

The consultation and challenge processes found that high levels of satisfaction with the service already existed. There were particular areas where performance could be enhanced.

 

A number of recommendations have been made which will lead to an improvement in the service already delivered, and which will form the basis of the Legal and Insurance Service Performance Improvement Plan. Such a plan will enable the Service to report on past and current performance identify future plans, priorities and targets and demonstrate continuous improvement in service delivery.

 

These recommendations concern the areas of:

 

 

 

Formal arrangements for the delivery of Best Value are now in place for ELB's, with the introduction of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 2003.

 

 

The 2003 Order states

 

1.3 (1) A aboard shall make arrangements for continuous improvement in the way in which its functions are exercised, having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness.

 

(2) For the purpose of deciding how to carry out its duty under paragraph (1), a board shall consult persons appearing to the board to be representative of persons who use, are likely to use, or otherwise have an interest in, services provided by the board in pursuance of its functions.

 

 

 

The Fundamental Performance Review of Special Education will examine the area in accordance with statutory arrangements approved by the Department of Education under Article 4 of the Education (NI) Order 1996, as supported by the Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs.

The review will examine the delivery of services in pursuit of Boards' statutory duties in the above area but will in the first instance focus on Stages 4 and 5 of the Code of Practice, statutory assessments and statementing, notwithstanding the relationship between the earlier Stages 1-3.

 

In recognition of the complex and wide-ranging nature of the service, this review is considered as an entry point to Special Education and may result in the identification of further steps for review or action in association with the Regional Strategy Group on Special Education.

 

The review will clearly define the scope and standards of the service; challenging and questioning the existing arrangements for making provision for children with special educational needs including special schools, special units and mainstream provision and producing meaningful comparisons and benchmarks both internally and with other providers.

 

This review will involve extensive consultation with stakeholders in this service area, taking into account the requirements under Section 75 (Statutory Duty) of the Northern Ireland Act (1998) and will make recommendations for the future management and delivery of the Special Education Service.

 

The focus of this report will therefore be on Stages 4 and 5 of the Code of Practice and the immediate implications from those Stages. It is therefore not exhaustive in its scope.

 

Previous external studies included:

 

 

The review followed the classical four 'C's approach of Challenge, Compare, Consult and Compete.

 

A Special Education Central Steering Team was established, the membership of which included senior officers from Special Education Branches of ELBs, two school principals and a representative from D. A member of the Special Educational Needs Regional Strategy Group on Special Educational Needs (hereinafter referred to as the Regional Strategy Group) chaired the Central Steering Team.

 

The Special Education Central Steering Team established a Consultation Group and Finance Group to address these aspects of the review. Membership of the Consultation Group included a representative from the Eastern Health and Social Services Board and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS), Officers from Special Education, Best Value Officers and five principals from different types of schools.

 

Membership of the Finance Group included staff from Special Education and Finance and a representative from DE.

 

The role of the team, in liaison with the CMSU, was to critically challenge and evaluate all information and be updated at each step of the review.

 

The Review was presented in March 2003 and resulted in thirty-five recommendations which addressed such issues as:

 

 

Whilst many of the recommendations target specific areas it is suggested that they should be viewed as an integrated package, which should be taken forward in light of other impacting legislation, the work of the Regional Strategy Group and any implications from the Review of Public Administration in Northern Ireland.

 

 

Parliament and public expect high standards of regularity and propriety in public bodies. The Turnbull Report referred to the need for internal audit or other monitoring processes to provide assurance that the system of internal control is functioning as intended. The Chief Executive as Accounting Officer is required to make provision for internal audit under the provisions of the Government Accounting Northern Ireland. Accounting Officers should, as part of their annual review of the system of internal control, ensure that their internal audit provision is adequately resourced to deliver a service in accordance with the objectives, standards and practices as set out in the Government Internal Audit Manual (GIAM).

 

Internal Audit is an independent appraisal function established by the management of the board for the review of the internal control system as a service to the organisation. It objectively examines, evaluates and reports on the adequacy of internal controls as a contribution to the proper, economic, efficient and effective use of resources.

 

A Best Value review of this service is currently underway. The aims and objectives of this Review are to:

 

 

 

The five education and library boards are conducting a fundamental review of Catering Services. The review, employing the 4 C's methodology of Challenge, Compare, Consult and Compete will examine issues concerning the delivery of this service to schools.

 

Listening to and involving users of the services in making improvements, setting standards and reviewing practices, is an important aspect of any best value review, and to this end, boards are keen to discover what users think about the delivery of Catering Services.

 

A robust and inclusive consultation plan has been developed which will include consultation with users of the service, parents, catering staff and non-users of the service. This consultation exercise will take place with a sample of schools in each board area during May/June 2003.

 

For further information concerning this review, please contact the Best Value Officer.