Guide to the changes in reporting Crime Lower work

This document summarises the key reporting changes being introduced in October 2011. The LSC strongly
recommends you begin to implement a number of these rules with immediate effect as some of the
reporting rules will affect cases which have already been opened.
This information will enable you to submit Crime Lower claims successfully to the LSC via Contracted Work
& Administration (CWA) - accessed through the LSC Online portal. If you are a Civil Legal Help provider you
should have also received the associated Civil guidance document (if not you can access a copy of it on the
LSC website).
Index
1. Summary of the key reporting changes
2. Quick guide to the changes & impact on your claims
3. Detailed guide to explain the changes
4. Further information
The key reporting changes being introduced for October 2011 Crime Lower submissions entered in CWA
between 1 st and 20th November 2011 are as follows:
New Representation Order Date field for magistrates’ court standard fee matters
New Standard Fee Category field for magistrates’ court standard fee matters
London fees can no longer be claimed for cases with a Representation Order Date on or after 3 rd
October 2011
New fees can be claimed for Either Way cases in the magistrates’ court with a Representation Order
Date on or after 3 rd October 2011
New pricing for Associated CLS work
New Bulkload Spreadsheet v1.13 to be introduced at the end of October 2011
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It is essential you are aware of these changes and the impacts they will have on reporting your Criminal
claims. The LSC is releasing a new version of the bulkload spreadsheet (v1.13) to support these changes,
alternatively if you use a Case Management System please contact your Software Vendor.
The following table provides an overview of all the forthcoming changes to CWA. The impact column
recommends when you should implement these changes to your Crime Lower reporting:
1
2
Area of change Detail Impact
New Representation
Order Date field for
magistrates’ court
standard fee matters
New Standard Fee
Category field for
magistrates’ court
standard fee matters
A new field (Representation Order Date) will be introduced for Crime
Lower matters claimed with the following stage reached/claim
codes:
PROE, PROF, PROK, PROL, PROJ
The new field will be required for matters submitted in the
October submission onwards (claimed between 1 st and 20 th
of November).
The Representation Order Date will be mandatory for all
outcomes submitted from the October submission onward
regardless of when the case started.
For further information on these new fields including when you will
need to report them please see the detailed Criminal codes guidance
For further guidance on Representation Order Date please see
section 3.1
See Appendix 1 for a view of the new field
A new field (Standard Fee Category) will be introduced for Crime
Lower matters claimed with the following stage reached/claim
codes:
PROE, PROF, PROK, PROL, PROJ
Providers will be required to state whether a case is
Category 1, Category 2 or Category 3 and for Category 1
matters, whether the matter is Either Way or Summary Only.
The new field will only be required for matters with a
Representation Order date on or after 3 rd October 2011.
Matters without a representation order date will not require
Standard Fee Category to be reported.
For further information on these new fields including when you will
need to report them please see the detailed Criminal codes guidance
For a further guidance on Standard Fee Category please see section
3.2
See Appendix 1 for a view of the new field
October
Submission
October
Submission
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3
4
5
London fees can no
longer be claimed for
cases with a
Representation Order
Date on or after 3 rd
October 2011
New fees can be
claimed for Either
Way cases in the
magistrates’ court
with a Representation
Order Date on or after
3 rd October 2011
New pricing for
Associated CLS work
For Standard Fee magistrates’ court matters with a Representation
Order date on or after 3 rd October 2011, it will no longer be possible
to claim London rates. All providers will have to use the relevant
National rates.
Existing validation to ensure only allowable fixed fee values can be
claimed for PROE, PROF, PROK, PROL and PROJ claims will be
modified to exclude London rates for cases with a representation
order date on or after 3 rd October 2011. Existing reporting rules will
be retained, therefore you must enter the correct fee in the profit
costs field and not the actual costs incurred.
For further information on reporting standard fee magistrates’ court
matters see the detailed Criminal codes guidance
For a list of applicable fee values see the table in section 3.3 below.
For Standard Fee Magistrates’ Court matters with a Representation
Order date on or after 3 rd October 2011, providers will be entitled to
claim an enhanced fee for Category 1 – Either Way cases.
Providers will use the new Standard Fee Category field to declare
that a matter is Category 1 – Either Way and will be entitled to claim
the higher fee.
Existing validation to ensure only allowable fixed fee values can be
claimed for PROE, PROF, PROK, PROL and PROJ claims will be
modified to exclude London rates. Existing reporting rules will be
retained, therefore you must enter the correct fee in the profit costs
field and not the actual costs incurred.
For further information on reporting standard fee magistrates’ court
matters see the detailed Criminal codes guidance
For a list of applicable fee values see the table in 3.3 below.
New prices will be introduced for Associated CLS work matters with a
UFN date on or after 3rd October 2011. As Associated CLS work
matters are remunerated at Civil rates, the fixed fees are being
reduced by 10% in line with the reduction to Civil fees.
Providers should continue to report their costs and CWA will
automatically assign the correct price to the matter based on the
information entered.
Matters with a
Representation
Order Date on or
after 3 rd October
2011
Matters with a
Representation
Order Date on or
after 3 rd October
2011
Matters with a
UFN date on or
after 3 rd October
2011 – No
changes to
reporting
required.
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6
7
8
Experts Fees
New Bulkload
Spreadsheet
October 2011 Crime
submission
Changes have been introduced to experts’ rates for all matters with
a representation order date on or after 3 rd October 2011. No new
fields have been introduced in CWA but providers are required to
adhere to the new rates where applicable or to demonstrate that
defined exceptional circumstances apply which justify higher rates
being paid. Where an expert is not covered by the prescribed rates
providers are required to demonstrate that best value has been
obtained.
You should continue to report Experts’ fees as part of your
Disbursements costs in the ‘Disbursements’ and
‘Disbursements VAT’ fields in CWA. For all matters with a
Representation Order Date on or after 3 rd October 2011, the
experts’ rates set out in the funding order should be used
where applicable
Where the rates paid exceed the prescribed rates then these
will need to be justified on the file. The hourly rate paid and
the number of hours worked will need to be evidenced on
the file together with a description of the exceptional
circumstances that justify the non-standard rates being paid.
These may be subject to audit
Where there are no rates specified, the providers should
have multiple quotes on the file to demonstrate they have
sought the best value for money
For further information on the experts’ prescribed rates please see
Criminal Defence Service (Funding) (Amendment) Order on the LSC
Website
For further information on the exceptional criteria please see
Criminal Defence Service (Funding) (Amendment) Order on the LSC
Website
A new version of the Bulkload Spreadsheet (v1.13) will be released at
the end of October 2011. You will need to use this new version for
your October submission made between 1 st and 20 th November 2011
and all subsequent submissions.
Changes are being made to CWA which will affect your October
submissions for Crime Lower. These changes will be implemented
between 20 th and 31 st October to minimise disruption to our online
services.
Please ensure that all matters started with a representation
order date on or after 3 rd October 2011 are not reported
until your October submission
Please do not enter, upload or submit your October 2011
submission by either line by line or bulk load into CWA until
1 st November
Matters with a
Representation
Order Date on or
after 3 rd October
2011
October
Submissions
Information only
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9
Schedule Number
unchanged in CWA
You will not be required to change your schedule number
(submission reference) on your monthly CWA submissions. The
format for all submissions up to and including July 2013 will be:
“CDS/Office Account Number/11”, for example CDS/1A111A/11
Information only
This section provides detailed guidance on certain aspects of the October changes. However for a
comprehensive guide to Crime Lower reporting please see the Criminal codes guidance found on the LSC
website.
3.1 Detailed guidance on Representation Order Date:
This guidance is issued for the billing of magistrates’ court standard fees and therefore covers
representation orders issued to conduct relevant work within the magistrates’ court.
The date to be entered into CWA is the date the order was granted as described on the representation
order for the matter you are billing. This order will have been issued in your client’s name authorising you
to act on behalf of your client. It will have been issued by a representation authority following the
appropriate application procedure.
When you have represented two or more clients in a single case you will have been issued with a
representation order for each client. However as set out in the Criminal Bills Assessment Manual (CBAM),
you should only submit a single claim for the case and so will be paid one standard fee. In this instance, you
should input the date of the earliest Representation Order issued for this case in CWA.
When claiming a single standard fee for two cases where there are multiple representation orders, you
should enter the date of the earliest representation order issued authorising your firm to act in that matter
in the Representation Order Date field in CWA.
3.2 Detailed guidance on Standard Fee Category
For magistrates’ court cases, each higher and lower standard fee is divided into three categories. A
definition of each category is given in the Crime Contract Specification Part B. For all outcomes with a
representation date on or after 3 rd October 2011, you will be required to declare which category a matter is
being claimed under using the Standard Fee Category field. This is optional for outcomes with a
Representation Order Date before 3 rd October 2011 but not required.
The acceptable values for standard fee category are:
Category 1: Either Way
Category 1: Summary Only
Category 2
Category 3
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For Category 1 cases, providers will be asked to select whether the case is an either way or ‘Summary Only’
case. Where there is a single charge then you should select the relevant category. Where your client is
charged with more than one offence then you should select the most serious offence and base your
selection of ‘either way’ or ‘summary only’ on that charge. If you are representing more than one client, as
part of the one case (as set out in our Crime Contract Specification part B) then you should select the most
serious offence and use that to determine whether the case is ‘either way’ or ‘summary only’.
3.3 Detailed guidance on magistrates’ court fees:
For matters with a representation order date on or after 3 rd October 2011, a new set of rates will be
introduced. The attached table summarises the fees which can be claimed when delivering magistrates’
court work. This is the value which must be entered in the profit costs field in CWA.
Please note:
1) The Claim Code used and the Standard Fee Category both determine the values that can be entered
in the profit costs field.
2) There are no London fees for matters with a representation order date on or after 3 rd October
2011.
3) The new rates are shown in yellow and London rates have been removed from the table. All other
rates are unchanged.
4) London court and provider validation has been removed from CWA so that all providers can claim
national rates for magistrates’ court work.
Code Standard Fee Category Description Value London
PROE CAT 1 Summary Only Rural cat 1 LSF (Summary Only) 173.45 No
PROE CAT 1 Either Way Rural cat 1 LSF (Either Way) 213.35 No
PROE CAT 2 Rural cat 2 LSF 306.25 No
PROE CAT 3 Rural cat 3 LSF 276.50 No
PROF CAT 1 Summary Only Rural cat 1 HSF (Summary Only) 417.20 No
PROF CAT 1 Either Way Rural cat 1 HSF (Either Way) 451.84 No
PROF CAT 2 Rural cat 2 HSF 702.40 No
PROF CAT 3 Rural cat 3 HSF 626.50 No
PROJ CAT 1 Summary Only Rural cat 1 LSF (Summary Only) 173.45 No
PROJ CAT 1 Either Way Rural cat 1 LSF (Either Way) 213.35 No
PROJ CAT 1 Summary Only Rural cat 1 HSF (Summary Only) 417.20 No
PROJ CAT 1 Either Way Rural cat 1 HSF (Either Way) 451.84 No
PROJ CAT 1 Summary Only Urban cat 1 LSF (Summary Only) 221.59 No
PROJ CAT 1 Either Way Urban cat 1 LSF (Either Way) 272.56 No
PROJ CAT 1 Summary Only Urban cat 1 HSF (Summary Only) 477.41 No
PROJ CAT 1 Either Way Urban cat 1 HSF (Either Way) 517.05 No
PROK CAT 1 Summary Only Urban cat 1 LSF (Summary Only) 221.59 No
PROK CAT 1 Either Way Urban cat 1 LSF (Either Way) 272.56 No
PROK CAT 2 Urban cat 2 LSF 378.46 No
PROK CAT 3 Urban cat 3 LSF 357.87 No
PROL CAT 1 Summary Only Urban cat 1 HSF (Summary Only) 477.41 No
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PROL CAT 1 Either Way Urban cat 1 HSF (Either Way) 517.05 No
PROL CAT 2 Urban cat 2 HSF 792.71 No
PROL CAT 3 Urban cat 3 HSF 734.56 No
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If you would like more information on the new reporting requirements please see the updated Criminal
codes guidance which includes the forthcoming October changes. Alternatively the following support is
also available:
Contract Manager – For all contractual queries including:
What areas of Crime Lower work am I authorised to work in?
Code & Fee scheme queries
I have made an error in my submission and I need it corrected post submission?
I want to make a supplemental claim
Reconciliation Team – reconciliation@legalservices.gsi.gov.uk
When will I be paid my SMP (Standard Monthly Payment) and how much?
LSC Online Support Team – online-support@legalservices.gsi.gov.uk
Technical support on making your submission to CWA
Help on using the Bulkload Spreadsheet
Further guidance the current reporting requirements can be found on the LSC website.
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Appendix 1
Enter a valid fixed fee value in the
Profit Costs field. For outcomes with
a Representation Order Date on or
after 3 rd October 2011:
1) London fees cannot be
claimed
2) A higher fee can be claimed
for ‘Category 1: Either way’
cases
Representation Order Date required
for all Magistrates’ Court Standard
Fee outcomes submitted from the
October 2011 submission onwards.
Standard Fee Category required for
all outcomes with a Representation
Order Date on or after 3 rd October
2011. Select from:
- Category 1: Either Way
- Category 1: Summary Only
- Category 2
- Category 3
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