A meeting of minds

We live in the age of the sound bite. Expressions such as 'credit crunch', 'not fit for purpose' and, more recently, 'consortium working' all spring to mind. Recently I have attended a number of meetings where the expression 'consortium working' has been used and while the expression seems to be genuinely misunderstood, I thought it would be useful to set out my own experiences of consortia working, which spread back over nearly 10 years.

The Legal Services Commission, certainly in its consultation document relating to its next proposed contract, takes the view that consortia working is very much a way forward. It proposes solicitors grouping together, either with colleague firms or with other not-for-profit agencies. There are of course overwhelming difficulties in relation to such consortia, not least of which are those associated with regulation. However some of the challenges can be overcome.

The consortium with which I am involved is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is funded by the local authority and consists of myself and two not-for-profit agencies, Nucleus Legal Advice Service and Staying Put, an agency providing housing advice but also dealing with minor repairs, providing furniture for the underprivileged'” it also has its finger in a number of other pies. The deal is really very simple. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea funds this consortium so that generalist (triage) advice is given by the not-for-profit organisations, and if something becomes complex, that is, there is a need for representation in court, the client is referred to my firm so that specialist legal advice and representation may be given at no cost to the client. The target market is those who are in employment but do not qualify for public funding.

Real advantages

The advantage of this consortium working is that not-for-profit agencies deal with minor enquiries, which are frankly not something a solicitor should be dealing with, for example assistance in filling in a housing benefits form, help with benefits, assistance in relation to obtaining a transfer or mutual exchange. This means that when the not-for-profit agency hits a genuine problem which they feel quite unqualified to deal with, they can refer up the chain and be guaranteed an appointment normally within one to two days and often on the same day.

There are also considerable advantages for the funding authority which has set up a system of housing advice within the borough, which takes some of the load off of its own council officials but more importantly prevents homelessness. No local authority wants to have a steady stream of homeless people arriving at its doors, and a high-­quality housing advice service can ensure that orders for possession are not made, rent is paid and tenants receive the benefits to which they are entitled.

This scheme started in 1999 and our consortium, which is called Housing Advice ­Service Kensington and Chelsea (HASKC), has been an overwhelming success.

Common goals

The consortium is regularly reviewed by the local authority and has been independently assessed by consultants. What it has also proved is that three independent organisations, which have kept their independence throughout, can work in partnership to achieve a common end.

Each of the partners in this consortium receives a different amount of money, as each of the partners is doing something a little bit different. As it happens I receive the smallest amount of money, as the other two, the not-for-profit bodies, do a very significant amount of out-of-hours advice, outreach, hospital ­visits, telephone work, etc. When the project was set up and suggested back in 1999, I had feared that the two other agencies may simply offload all the wretched unpleasant work on to me, keeping the best (read 'easiest') cases for themselves. In fact that has not happened. I receive genuinely exciting, relevant cases, quite often involving people who do not earn very much but may be outside of eligibility for public funding. If they could not turn to HASKC they would be unable to turn to anybody. Certainly with the economic climate as it is and the number of people unemployed rising, it is quite likely that more people are going to need housing advice, and HASKC may well be their first port of call.

Consortium working involves a good deal of compromise. Nevertheless this has proved beneficial for all the parties. I have been involved in training not-for-profit sector workers and they have spent time in my offices observing how we operate. There are regular meetings between myself and the directors of Nucleus and Staying Put. The three organisations socialise together. Very importantly, because we are doing specific tasks, we are not in competition but all involved in something we are passionate about, which is looking after people with housing difficulties that are quite often extremely fundamental and could result in homelessness. The fact that all three ­organisations are equally passionate about this means that we all sing from the same song sheet. We work co-operatively and ­efficiently.

I guess that others may not be so lucky with their partners, and consortium working will have many challenges ahead of it. Nevertheless, it can be done. It has happened for me and over the last 10 years, HASKC is a glowing example of the success which can flow from this particular model of working. I have even discovered that the not-for-profit sector workers are fiercely jealous of the fact that I can take a dog in to the office and they cannot!