https://www.slab.org.uk/faqs/guide-to-accounts-information-in-the-sopor-reports/
Average calendar days to bank
The Initial Assessments duration is a measure of the time from registration of the account to the date payment is received into the solicitor’s bank account. It includes any period where we have asked and are waiting for more information from the solicitor to help us assess the account.
The Negotiation duration is the same measure but for accounts that are follow-up accounts to negotiate over sums that we have deducted – known as abatements - from initial accounts.
The Combined duration is the total average duration for all accounts – i.e. both Initial Assessments and Negotiation accounts combined together.
Indication of how well performing: LOWER is better.
Initial Assessment - % paid in full
The paid in full measure is the percentage of accounts that we are able to pay the full amount solicitors are claiming, i.e. without abating them.
‘Abatement’ describes the process by which the amount paid by us includes one or more deductions from the amount claimed by a solicitor. This can occur for many different reasons.
Subsequent negotiations with firms can result in part or all of the sum abated being reinstated, often because we are provided with further information that allows us to be satisfied that a claim is valid or reasonable
This can be additional information (such as vouching) to support a claim, or an explanation to justify a particular activity which had appeared to us on the face of it to be unnecessary, unreasonable or uneconomical.
We are required to protect the Legal Aid Fund from unjustified expenditure; however this needs to be undertaken in a manner that is seen to be fair, transparent and done in a consistent and efficient manner.
Ultimately we will be using the information on what we finally pay against, the original lodged amount and the initial payment to understand how we can ensure more could be paid at the first instance.
Indication of how well performing: HIGHER is better.
Negotiations as a % of Initial Assessments
This measure shows the number of negotiation accounts paid as a percentage of the number of first instance accounts paid in a period.
This indicator measures a number of different key elements of the process:
Poor performance in any of those areas could result in an increase in this ratio.
Indication of how well performing: LOWER is better.