84840 - Assurance and Risk Analyst - Legal Aid Agency

Salary range (depending on location):    

National - £27,223 to £28,613
London - £31,169 to £32,760

Please note that unless you are currently employed by the Civil Service and are earning more than the minimum above, if successful you will be offered the minimum for the grade depending on your location.

Working Pattern:    

The post is supported by the MOJ flexible working policy and includes colleagues who work flexibly, remotely (as part of hybrid working), part time or as part of a job share etc.

If you are applying for a part time role, please note that in order to meet business demands we need cover for a minimum of 25 hours and to cover 4 days of the week.

The Legal Aid Agency

We are an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). We provide civil and criminal legal aid and advice in England and Wales to help people deal with their legal problems.  

Our people are at the heart of achieving excellence. Employing around 1,200 colleagues across England and Wales, we feel proud to have some of the best People Survey results in the Civil Service. 

Our LAA commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

The LAA is committed to diversity and inclusion and we positively promote flexible working, including job shares. 

We will consider all applications on merit regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, religion, ethnicity, preferred working pattern and except for exceptional circumstances your working location. 

As a Disability Confident organisation, we will offer a guaranteed interview to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for this role. Under the Equality Act 2010 a disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months. 

If you are responding to a role within the Legal Aid Agency and would like to be considered under the guaranteed interview, please indicate this in your application and let us know of any reasonable adjustments you may require during the sift or later selection processes.

The LAA’s goal is to build an organisation that is open and inclusive and truly values and celebrates the diversity of its workforce. One that reflects and understands the needs of the diverse society we serve. This is regardless of social background, gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, beliefs, disabilities or long-term illness or caring responsibilities.

Diversity is the presence of difference, this can include one or more of the protected characteristics (Gender, Age, Race, Disability etc.) or it can be about working patterns, whether we like to jump into a task or reflect on it before acting.

Inclusion is how we welcome, value, and celebrate diversity, giving everyone a voice, tapping into ideas, and enabling everyone to be themselves at work and achieve their potential.

Contract Management and Assurance (CMA)

Based in every office of the LAA, Contract Management and Assurance (CMA) bring together a wealth of expertise and knowledge to support the organisation in managing our providers and assuring risks. CMA work closely with our provider base to ensure the smooth running of our contracts and assure the delivery of legal aid. 

We ensure that Providers deliver quality legal aid services in accordance with contractual requirements and relevant legislation. We interpret and analyse data to effectively manage risk and to influence providers to improve performance and effectively deliver change. We also engage with the wider Justice System to promote partnership working and influence provider behaviour.

Core Assurance and Risk Management Team

This team undertakes a monthly cycle of re-performing samples of eligibility applications and payments to legal aid providers. This work is designed to identify the level of reported error on the Legal Aid Fund and is reported as the LAA’s Regularity position on the Agency’s accounts. The team’s work is closely reviewed by the National Audit Office who re-perform samples of their testing. The team’s findings are also shared with

Assurance’s Recoveries team, Contract Management and Case Management. It also carries out audits and data validation exercises in all areas of crime and civil work to ensure provider work is carried out in accordance with Legal Aid Contracts. 

Job Summary

The role holder is responsible for reviewing Legal Aid Provider files against claim data and contractual requirements to make robust decisions regarding their accuracy. You will produce detailed reports justifying your decisions and communicate your findings with both internal and external customers. 

The role requires attention to detail, working with data from a range of sources and a flexible approach to changes in business priorities. Assurance and Risk Analysts develop their knowledge to gain subject matter expertise in different areas of law. 

Key Responsibilities:

•    Analyse data from a range of sources to select, request and review provider case files. 
•    Validate provider claims to make detailed assessments and communicate results to internal and external stakeholders.
•    Work with Contract Managers and providers to enforce any recoveries identified.
•    Consider appeals against analyst assessments.
•    Answering queries from other teams and providers.
•    Storing and recording all work in line with team processes and LAA requirements.
•    Work flexibly to support the team in the delivery of ad hoc and urgent tasks.
•    Work independently to adhere to team time standards whilst escalating any issues to the team manager.
•    Use experience to identify and suggest improvements to processes and share knowledge with the team.

Desirable Knowledge, Experience and skills

•    Microsoft 365 Applications

Person Specification

•    You can analyse information to make considered decisions.
•    You enjoy working with data with a focus on accuracy.
•    You are happy working in a process driven environment and understand the importance of making decisions according to set rules and guidelines.
•    You remain effective and can be flexible when faced with conflicting deadlines.
•    You always have a plan in place to make best use of your time.
•    You are a highly organised, able to motivate yourself to work independently and take accountability for your decisions.
•    You communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.

Assessment approach 

Application Process 

To apply complete an application based of the following behaviours:

•    Making Effective Decisions
•    Delivering at Pace
•    Communicating and Influencing

When submitting an example of a behaviour remember to include the situation, what you did and why, and what was the outcome / result. 

Please note that if we have a large number of applications will we do an initial sift on the Making Effective Decisions behaviour.

Interview / assessment Process

If you are successful through the application stage, you will be invited to an interview in person or via Microsoft Teams where you will be assessed against the following: 

•    Strengths relevant to the role
•    Some or all of the following Behaviours: 
•    Making Effective Decisions
•    Delivering at Pace
•    Communicating and Influencing

•    Your Experience of implementing, promoting, or understanding diversity and inclusion policy 

For this grade/ role we would expect the candidate to demonstrate understanding of the terms Diversity and Inclusion and be able to explain why they are important to them and to where they work. Examples of action they have taken (in or outside of work) to embrace diversity (e.g., increasing understanding) or improve inclusion for others will increase the strength of their answer. 

•    Practical exercise to assess your analytical skills.

If you would like more information on this opportunity, please contact karen.watson@justice.gov.uk

Complaints procedure

If you have any complaints about this recruitment activity, please share your concerns by emailing LAARecruitment@justice.gov.uk initially. We aim to respond to any complaint within 10 working days.