Performance measures
Published 9 June 2022
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Our performance measures reflect our continued commitment to high professional standards as well as delivering client satisfaction, whilst recovering our operating costs in full by the year end.
Client Satisfaction
To improve our client satisfaction rating(s)
| Client satisfaction rating(s) | 2021-22 | 2020-21 |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage receiving Good or Excellent rating | 96% | 96% |
| Average score (Excellent: 10, Good: 5, Acceptable: 0, Poor: -5, Unacceptable: -10) | 8.06 | 8.07 |
Our aim is to improve our ratings in our annual survey of client satisfaction. Overall our average score remained broadly flat and we achieved a marginal improvement in the percentage of Good or Excellent 96.2% (95.7% last year). Given the challenging operational context over the past year, achieving an improvement in the satisfaction rating, is a positive outcome, and testament to the hard work and professionalism of our staff.
Our clients rated us highly for the quality of our individual relationships with them, however, our speed of response was an area where we need to do more. These results have fed into our Client Care Plan for 2022-23, the objectives of which are to strengthen client relationships, improve client capability, and share best practice in client care.
Lexcel
To maintain Lexcel accreditation
Lexcel is the Law Society’s legal practice quality mark for practice management and client care.
| Lexcel accreditation | |
|---|---|
| 2021-22 | Achieved |
| 2020-21 | Achieved |
Our litigators across Litigation, Employment and Commercial Law Groups again successfully met the Lexcel standard, achieving the highest level of accreditation. The Lexcel assessor concluded that “this continues to be extremely noteworthy given the current context – both internal and external.
It continues to more than amply demonstrate the inherent robustness of internal process and system. In Lexcel terms, GLD continues to very clearly constitute a ‘Centre of Excellence’, and continues to demonstrate an exceptionally high degree of compliance against the Lexcel standard.”
Recovery of operating costs
To recover from clients the full operating cost of chargeable services
| Full cost recovery | |
|---|---|
| 2021-22 | Achieved |
| 2020-21 | Achieved |
We are primarily funded from the fees charged to clients for our legal services. Our fee rates are set in accordance with HMT publication - Managing Public Money - and are designed to recover the costs incurred by the department. Financial performance is monitored throughout the year, and on a quarterly basis, we undertake a formal exercise to forecast the financial outturn for the year.
Our commitment to our clients is to ensure that they benefit from better than budgeted financial performance and if the forecasting exercise at the end of quarter two predicts a significant surplus, we evaluate the underlying reasons, consider the financial risks for the remainder of the year and assess whether a fee reduction should be made in-year.
Full cost recovery was achieved and after rebates of £3.8m (2020-21 £5.8m), a surplus of £12m was generated (2020-21: £3.5m). In 2021-22, there was a particularly high level of inherent uncertainty in the quarter two forecasting exercise due to the ongoing impact of Covid on the demand for our legal work. The higher than normal level of surplus, reflects that legal demand and therefore the associated staff and external support costs for the second half of 2021-22 were at the lower end of our expectations.