Case Study: Corby Borough Council
Iken Case Management is key to continuous improvement for
Corby’s award-winning Legal Services team
In 2005, Corby Borough Council’s legal services team embarked upon an ambitious programme of continuous improvement, selecting Iken Case Management software in 2006 as a key component.
As a result of innovation, the team transformed their working practices and achieved Lexcel accreditation within two years. Furthermore, Corby Legal Services was the only local authority to be awarded “Highly Commended” in the Lexcel Award for Excellence in Practice Standards in the 2009 Law Society Awards.
In this case study, Simon Aley, Corby’s Head of Legal and Democratic Services, explains the benefits that Iken Case Management has brought to the legal team since implementation.
“The first step was to move from paper-based to electronic case management”
The need to address the way in which information was handled was a key part of the early improvement plan at Corby.
“When I first joined Corby, case information was entirely paper-based, apart from a single Excel spreadsheet where case numbers were recorded,” Simon explains. “As well as causing concerns around security, this also meant that tracking down relevant information could be extremely time consuming.”
Having used electronic case management systems before, Simon had no doubt of the benefits of using an IT solution to resolve this problem.
“I’ve used Iken in three successive authorities – it’s the natural choice”
Joining Corby Council in late 2005, Simon quickly set about putting his preferred technological solution in place.
“I was responsible for implementing Iken Case Management and Time Recording for the two previous legal teams I headed – so I’ve been using Iken for nearly nine years in total! I knew what we were getting – it was the natural choice.”
“Iken makes finding information a quick and simple exercise.”
Iken stores documents, emails and scanned correspondence in one central location, and they are indexed by multiple criteria at the point of production, so finding the appropriate information is straightforward.
“Before we had Iken, speed of file retrieval was probably our biggest challenge, especially when information was required from a past case, because historic documentation was held in an archive off-site. Now if we need to find a particular document, it’s an easy task. Staff can produce the required information in minutes, which is a massive improvement.”
“The system facilitates joined-up working across the department”
Dispersed teams and flexible working practices can cause added complexity in terms of teamwork andcommunication. Having a shared repository, common tools and a standard working environment can greatly help in these circumstances.
Although the Corby Legal Services team are all based in one location, staff are spread over two floors of the building.
“This meant that the easiest way to share information prior to Iken was to attach documents to emails, which meant increased email traffic and the risk of several different people editing copies of the same document.These days, people just provide colleagues with a document’s unique reference number so they can find it themselves in Iken, which tackles both problems.”
“Iken enhances information security”
Information security is a hot topic for local authorities today. The loss or unauthorised disclosure of informationcan have catastrophic effects, not only for those impacted, but on the reputation of the authority. The Iken system includes appropriate security settings, ensuring that only authorised personnel have access.
“When the legal team had a paper-based system it was far more difficult to ensure that sensitive data was appropriately protected – for example, all the details of lease and property titles were held in a box of index cards on a shelf.”
With Iken as a single, secure repository for information, appropriate data protection procedures can be centrally managed by IT.
“Iken gives us the flexibility to work the way we want to”
“One of the reasons that I’ve always liked using Iken is because it doesn’t impose a rigid framework. It enables us to build our operations as we wish, with Iken to assist us, rather than the other way around.”
Iken Case Management and Time Recording software is designed to meet the needs of the individual departments and organisations that implement it, rather than taking a “one size fits all” approach. It is pre-configured with a client’s own case types, templates, precedents and even logos that are appropriate to the teams who will be using it.
“I continue to recommend Iken to other authorities who are looking to enhance efficiency and productivity”
Having successfully introduced IT solutions to several local authority legal functions, Simon is frequently consulted on the subject. When questioned as to whether he would recommend Iken Case Management to other organisations, his response is unequivocal: “when asked for my opinion, I have, and I do, recommend Iken.”
As Corby’s caseload continues to grow, the Iken Case Management software continues to play an important part in supporting the Legal and Democratic services function in maintaining the high standards required as a leading Lexcel accredited authority.
For more information on Iken Solutions for Public Sector Legal teams, visit our
website: www.iken.biz/publiclegal or call us on: 0845 450 9201 (0117 373 0790)