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'The Quality Mark: a mark of what?' Update
We said in our article that the issues raised are complex and that this was not the last word. And we were right! We've been contacted formally by more than 40 people, from all parts of the advice sector, including the networks; and had discussions with many more as we've moved from place to place during the course of our work. The overwhelming majority of this feedback has been in support of the views expressed in our article. In addition to this, the Adviser has received the most response from any article they have published. We're also told that the LSC has circulated the article in its internal newsletter. Among the national advice networks, we know that FIAC considered our article at its Board meeting in December. They felt that many of our points resonated with their own concerns, chiefly that the Government is directing the development and standards agenda and that the sector has lost control over its own direction and destiny. The FIAC Board has resolved to convene a small sector "summit" to consider current concerns and ways of regaining the initiative. The hope is that it will enable a more broad-based debate and programme of action. A date during early March is being targeted with networks and individuals involved. So we're providing this update to give a flavour of what people think about the issues, practical examples provided about the workings and impact of the CLS and other issues of importance. We have chosen examples that reflect common views and experiences. We have also included examples from the small minority of views that see the benefits of the CLS. Keep the views coming - your contribution can make a difference! About independence "We have sold our soul to the LSC and I feel powerless to do anything about it". "What is really scary is that everyone seems to be just accepting it and agencies feel powerless to challenge what is happening." "It's difficult to challenge the QM when it has the backing of the advice networks. Our local authority took their lead from the likes of NACAB/ASA and FIAC which have backed the CLS. What is the position of the networks, I'd like to know. The QM reduces the judgement and role of the adviser to take appropriate action according to the needs of the client". "Whether one concludes that the LSC is actively trying to manipulate funding strategies of others or not, there is no doubt that the effect has been as if they were. And they have been short-sighted in the extreme, and ultimately perhaps negligent as you say, in not tackling this with sufficient rigour". "The advice sector has always been caught in an ambiguous position between the state and the people they represent. Our independence has always been compromised; we've taken the money and are incorporated into the state, while still defending our autonomy. At times, advice services act as an outreach arm of the state getting their clients to accept the limits of the law, and at others will push the boundaries and challenge state authority. The sector is so fragmented that it finds it hard to set its own agenda. Quality is a good focus for debate; the issue of who controls quality is so indicative of independence. The issue of peer review is pivotal because it shifts control back to the providers". "Organisations need to be able to set the range of their casework and their priorities independently according to an objective assessment of their client's needs and their own expertise; not according to a standard set of required range of subject areas". "If quality assurance is a good idea then why not have an independent voluntary sector-led system instead of a State imposed one? This would get just as much (if more) recognition from clients, funders, partners etc as the government's QM. But I guess it's too late, and the advice sector is too fragmented for that". "What is this advice identity? People of a left/anarchist persuasion might view it as uncontrollable and radical, but I can think of substantial number of people working in the sector who wouldn't agree. Let's face it - the advice sector as much as the State (in the form of the CLS) is not the place to look for the motor of revolution". Quality Mark = quality? "Workers are working longer and longer hours but the extra time is taken up, not with clients or community struggles, but with administration. The Quality Mark is no guarantee of quality work but more of increasing standardisation and control". "Requirements for letters to clients are inappropriate to the particular circumstance of each person" ." are becoming organisationally self-centred" . "correspondence to the client often seems designed to satisfy the auditor rather than resolve the client's problems". "At times there is a clear and damaging conflict between CLS time and client time, administration and casework, bureaucracy and service provision". "I am aware of an organisation that did not qualify for the general help with case work although the high standard of case work was acknowledged." "We gained our QM and I know it has not made the slightest difference to the quality of advice we give, indeed we now have less time to give advice as we're always having to complete forms". "I am not well organised but got the specialist help mark because the LSC person said it would obviously be ludicrous not to give me the mark because I have long been a recognised resource for other agencies. I thought that was odd since I didn't meet the necessary requirements but did meet others not required". About Partnership "In two local authorities the CLSPs are not working because one LA is in crisis; and the other refuses to participate. The LSC response is that the CLSP can therefore not exist unless the LA is involved. What does this say about the value and respect attached to the contributions of non-funder partners? Surely it is particularly important for other partners to meet in these circumstances." "Absence from CLSP meetings is frowned upon and those absent, like smaller under-resourced agencies, have no real influence over, or knowledge of, the agenda". "On the positive side, I have been involved in our local CLSP and have found (on the whole) the experience a fairly positive on. But I feel that is largely down to the individuals involved rather than its intrinsic qualities". "The CLSP recommended that all advice agencies should have the QM, without any assessment of whether current providers could actually meet such requirements. The service provision research came after this was agreed". "I don't think by the widest stretch of the imagination that CLSPs could be described as consolidating State power". The impact on advisers "I am just not able to cover all my profound anger at what is happening. I've got to get on with the work and get my files tidy for audit. If I don't do it then others' posts will be at risks. Divide and rule". "Your article came at a time when I was feeling particularly demoralised and isolated and articulated thoughts that have been spinning around my head, without an appropriate outlet, for far too long". "We passed our audit in the summer, but few things have left me so demoralised. Please keep questioning the QM". Who benefits? "The implementation of the QM seems to add to the funding advantage larger organisations already have over smaller ones. Attendance at meetings and heavily bureaucratic systems exact a high price on organisations under-resourced in time. Service delivery quickly becomes the poor relation. Current and prospective clients therefore end up paying through reduced access to their service". "Organisations who pride themselves on equal opportunities and equal access are desperate to meet their contract hours and are therefore prioritising work with legally aidable clients". "There is a serious risk that advocacy and advice are becoming conditional. I have attended meetings where discussions take place about the best way to get information from clients that is not necessary for advice purposes but is required under a CLS contract". "I think it's likely that a two-tier structure to the sector will emerge - visible agencies plugged into the QM etc and twilight agencies holding off from statutory regulation for as long as possible". The CLS can be helpful "The Quality Mark must be seen as just a starting point from which advice providers can increasingly have influence over factors that need to be taken into account. It cannot be a good argument that some concrete organisational and supervisory criteria need not be measured. The view expressed of partnership is not one that I recognise from my experience, which allow local providers/funders/users to participate in decision making and strategic planning for the area". "Your article does not deal with a fundamental question: one of sustainability. Without mechanisms to survive and flourish, no amount of good advice and happy users will make the necessary difference to local communities". "I support the need for supervision and independent file review as a way of ensuring quality. I agree with you that if the CLS really wants to work with the advice sector to improve service provision it would be better off setting up and funding a support service to help agencies develop their infrastructures". "Our QM application has been a useful experience in that I did need to look at some of our procedures, but the organisational requirements feel like a barrier in our relationship with the client". "The sector would not have been in a position to develop a quality assurance system for itself. If the sector hadn't bought in to QM at all, the chances are the LSC would have gone ahead and tried to sell something even less palatable. I think there are potential benefits, including staff awareness of how procedures work, greater management committee knowledge, creation of an organisational framework and statement of service aims which is potentially beneficial to new workers and volunteers". Action is required "The time has now arrived when we must all come to our senses and refuse to soak up more unwanted changes like a sponge. If we do not speak out now, it is my view that the whole system will collapse into a second rate, poor quality shambles". "But what do we do? I hope to bring it up at the Information workers network and circulate the article to local managers, maybe to stimulate some debate". "The FIAC Board has agreed to host some kind of event to stimulate a wider debate with the objective of reclaiming some initiative/strengthening the sector's hand in shaping its future". "We hope that your article will galvanise all CABs and NACAB to act on your proposals. We owe it to our clients to refuse to waste time on ill-conceived, badly thought-through, poorly executed schemes like this". "We've drawn up a statement of support to be agreed by other local managers; and to go to our network for action". "Your article lifted our hearts and filled us with new hope. I took it to a meeting because some of the local CLSP people were there, including the LSC rep. It makes a very good starting point for a discussion". "How can we get something done before it runs away with us? Sorry, haven't got time to discuss this further, I've got some transaction criteria to attend to .." Penny Waterhouse & Andy Benson |
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