Housing Association Case Study

Housing Association Legal Department

Developing radical optoins for improved service delivery and Value for Money...

Re-focused Legal Department

The Legal Department within one of the country's largest Housing Association

The needs of the business for Legal services had changed over the years however there was a lack of clarity regarding the role of Legal within the wider business
The Legal department were seen as 'isolated', key relationships had broken down leading to a lack of confidence in the service
The function was seen as inefficient and not offering best value for money
Performance management was weak
Need to determine the appropriate way forward for the department, including considering partnership working and outsourcing options

Conducted a series of one-to-one interviews with executive managers, members of the Legal team and Legal 'customers' to gain their perceptions and insights
Carried out group workshops with representatives from Legal and 'customers' of the service to examine existing processes and their effectiveness
Extensive data analysis examining activities, performance and outcomes across solicitors, paralegal and business support grades
Audit of the skills levels available
Comparative analysis of quality, costs and efficiency within a range of alternative Legal services suppliers
Development of strategic options including significant internal performance enhancement and development of outsourcing / partnership working and associated organisation structures
Coaching and counselling to senior Legal management team
Quantified significant financial / value for money opportunity (up to 20% of departmental budget)

Major re-focusing of Legal department effort from 'low-level' volume transactions to high value / high risk corporate project support
Internal performance and value for money improvement programme adopted with key actions to:
- Improve engagement with the wider business
- Clarify expectations of Legal services
- Re-allocate resources to support high value corporate work and reduce external spend
- Strengthen performance management across all grades