Case Study: Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council is an improving authority moving up to Fair on the 2004 CPA assessments. Its Unitary Authority Law Team serves a population of just under 250,000.
The Legal Services team at Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council were already working towards Lexcel accreditation in the summer of 2004, but realised that their existing systems and procedures required streamlining and a more cohesive, flexible and team-based approach, before they could move forward with their application.
Iken Business’ integrated Case Management and Time Recording system was the solution that Rotherham MBC needed to improve their systems and procedures in line with Lexcel requirements and also to help achieve the efficiency directives of Sir Peter Gershon’s Releasing Resources to the Frontline: Independent Review of Public Sector Efficiency report.
With an increasing workload, the Rotherham legal team entered into a formal procurement exercise for a case management and time recording system with the following criteria:
- To implement the new system within the first quarter of 2005
- To improve productivity and efficiency and to aid the programme of continuous improvement initiatives
- To work towards Lexcel accreditation in order to disseminate best practice, monitor performance and reduce risk
The Rotherham project team drew up a shortlist and after visiting client sites for each vendor selected Iken in December 2004. Full implementation and training took place throughout the spring of 2005.
Why was Iken selected? Robert Parker, Business Support Manager says:
“To meet our target in applying for Lexcel accreditation we required a solution that would enable us to work in a more team-centric environment, improve controls upon security and access and that was also intuitive and user-friendly, even for remote workers. The Iken software suite delivers exactly that, and as a company, Iken Business delivers on their promises.”
The key benefits of Iken are:
- Enables a team-based approach to working
- Provides staff with remote and home working capabilities
- Iken is licensed concurrently, reducing the overall costs of implementation
- Advanced management reporting for documents
Tim Mumford, Head of Legal Services says:
“We have been very impressed in how Iken has helped improve our internal processes and procedures and has freed up the time of our professional staff; we have been recommending its use throughout the council.”
Finance Department Select Iken Time Recording
Seeing the success of Iken Case Management and Time Recording within Legal Services, the Finance Department has also procured Iken Time Recording and Management Reporting as a solution to their time reporting requirements.
Post Implementation
With Iken now bedded in, the Legal Services department have reported significant reductions in their turnaround times to clients; an improved service to both their external and internal clients with all the information on a particular case being accessible by relevant parties; and improved management reports enabling more accurate monitoring, budgeting and allocation of resources. They have also been pleased to report significant reductions in printing and stationery costs.
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