Open Government Status:

Fully Open

Approved By:

A N Hall

• 1 Purpose and scope
• 2 Policy
  • Who can originate a Case?
  • Initial consultation and draft Case
  • Allocation / rejection of work by the Assessment SI
  • Assessment task and reporting
  • Close out of assessment task
  • Resolution of outstanding issues and follow up work
  • Export of data from the system
  • Job handover
• 3 Responsibilities
• 4 Definitions
• 5 Procedure
• 6 Associated documents

1 Purpose and scope

1.1 This procedure describes the process for management of work activity of Inspectors within the Directorate and the use of COIN.

1.2 This Assessment Activity Management process is consistent with that which has been agreed by CALM, as set out in SMG Paper 99/40, for the purpose of:

1) promoting effective communications between Inspectors requesting / requiring the services of Inspectors and the relevant Unit Head;

2) facilitating efficient task management and accountability within the work management process.

1.3 The COIN database provides a means to:

1) record work undertaken;
2) ascertain the status of such work;
3) record tasks that cannot be undertaken;
4) access information to enable work to be planned and managed effectively; and
5) account for the utilisation of the Inspectorial resource.

1.4 The process shall be applied, by all ND staff involved, to tasks carried out by Inspectors (primarily for assessment and inspection tasks) that require more than a small effort, typically 1 day, other than those not chargeable.

2 Policy

2.1 A Case must be raised and placed on the Unit Head for any task to be undertaken by an Inspector working within an Assessment Unit, except those which are not chargeable or require minimal effort, typically less than 1 day. The originator of the work only needs to place one Case on the Unit Head of the assessment team regardless of the number of assessment required to undertake the tasks. Where more than one Assessment Unit is required for the task then each unit should be issued a Case raised by the originator. The role of the Unit Head is to assign Service Orders to each member of the team required to undertake the assessment specified in the Case.

2.2 Generally, Assessment Units should not be self tasking and generally Cases should be raised by inspectors outside of the Unit.

2.3 Cases may not be used as a method to reserve blocks of assessment effort or as 'calling off' contracts. Where such future requirements are expected these should be communicated to the divisional management for inclusion in plans of work – typically programmes or project plans.

2.4 However, where there is defined work within a programme or plan which has been through due process then it is acceptable to allocate effort against it.

Who can originate a Case?

2.5 All Inspectors can raise Cases. The Inspector raising the Case is known as the Originator. Only unit heads may raise Service Orders and only on their units.

Initial consultation and draft Case

2.6 The Originator should have early discussions with the Assessor who will carry out the task or with the Assessment SI when it is not obvious which Assessor(s) should undertake the task.

2.7 In general, discussions with the Assessor(s) should address the technical aspects of the work. The Assessment SI will advise on planning, prioritisation and strategic aspects. Originators should obtain sufficient information to enable them to agree and complete the Notes fields with a scope for the proposed work, timescales for completion and proposed allocation when previously discussed. Note: separate Cases will be needed for assessors from different units.

2.8 Having agreed sufficient detail for the Case, the Originator should complete the mandatory fields including, as much detail as necessary and inform the Assessment SI.

2.9 Ideally the related information should be passed to the assessor or the TRIM references given. This should be as complete as possible to allow assessor(s) to incorporate the work into their forward schedule(s).

Note. The database does not alert the recipient (either Assessment SI or Assessor) to its arrival.

Allocation / rejection of work by the Assessment SI

2.10 Before allocating a Service Order from the originating Case the Assessment SI should be satisfied that the scope, effort, timescales, etc. of the work requested is reasonable and can be accommodated within the available effort of their Unit. However they can cause the Case to be withdrawn at any stage by altering Case Status provided the subsidiary Service Orders have been closed. The most appropriate descriptor should be used in the Case Status field.

2.11 Where the scope, effort, timescale, etc. of the work is not considered to be reasonable or deliverable the Assessment SI should attempt to resolve any conflicts by rescheduling / re-assignment of the work in consultation with the Assessor and Originator. Similarly, the Assessor should seek to resolve any disagreement regarding the technical content of the work.

2.12 Should the Assessment SI be unable to resolve the conflicts that prevent allocation of Service Orders from the originating Case they should inform the Originator and reject the Case. Similarly, where a Case is rejected due to lack of assessment resource, then the Originator should be informed and the reasons recorded in a new Note attached to the Case.

2.13 The Assessment SI should then raise Service Orders on their staff as agreed with them and / or the Originator. The description of the tasks and other relevant details should be recorded in the first note attached to the Service order. Staff should be informed that Service Orders have been placed as the system only records receipt in the Assessor’s home page. As a double check, Assessors should visit their home page regularly (when completing weekly time recording would be good practice).

Assessment task and reporting

2.14 Once the request for work has been formally assigned to an Assessor it is their responsibility to ensure that the details regarding scope, timescale, etc. are agreed and, where appropriate, that this is recorded in an attached Note.

2.15 The Assessor should undertake the assessment in line with the Assessment Process (AST/001) and supporting documents and, ensure that the Originator is informed. This should include a clear statement if the work will be late due to lack of resource. A more detailed 'running history' of the task may be in notes / files attached to the Service Order. When the work is accepted the Assessor is expected to take ownership of the task and responsibility for the resolution of any issues they might identify (see AST/004).

2.16 It is possible to edit completion dates prior to closing out the work, but this should not be done when work is delayed by lack of resource or pressure of higher priority work. Notes should be attached to reflect the circumstances where dates are either amended or missed. Specifically the required completion date should only be altered when the project requirements change, e.g. where a Licensee's submission is late.

2.17 The SI should monitor progress of work undertaken against Cases, in particular ensuring that the Assessors close out Service Orders in a timely manner once work is completed.

Close out of assessment task

2.18 Completion of the task includes the issue of any output or reports in the format agreed between the Originator and Assessor. Where an Assessment Report is required this should be consistent with AST/003 'Assessment Reports'. When the Assessor and Originator are in agreement that the assessment is complete (as defined in AST/001) the Assessor should close out the Service Order on the database, ensuring that sufficient details are recorded to provide an auditable trail and inform their SI. Cases can only be closed once all the related Service Orders are closed / completed.

Resolution of outstanding issues and follow up work

2.19 Where matters have not been resolved by the time the output is issued, then any assessment work to resolve these should normally be the subject of a separate Case and, where appropriate, recorded as Issues (see AST/004). Issues raised must be recorded in the assessment report.

Export of data from the system

2.20 Data (for planning or monitoring purposes) can be output using the reports found on the home page menu.

Job handover

2.21 It is the responsibility of the Assessors, and Assessment Unit Heads to ensure that any Service Orders are amended when they change jobs.

1) Unit Heads should ensure that all continuing Cases are transferred to the incoming Unit Head.

2) Assessors should ensure that continuing tasks are allocated to their replacement, or transferred, as appropriate.

3) Similarly Assessment SIs should ensure that any continuing tasks are allocated to correct Unit.

3 Responsibilities

3.1 Any Inspector (Bands 1-3) requiring work to be undertaken by an Assessment Inspector is responsible for ensuring that a Case is raised to cover the task. Only Assessment Unit Heads may raise a Service Order on their own staff and Site Inspectors raise Service Orders on themselves for inspection activities.

3.2 The Head of an Assessment Unit is responsible for acceptance and allocation of Cases within their unit. Conversely, where they reject a Case, they are responsible for recording the reason(s) for rejection. Inspection Unit Heads are responsible for raising Cases for their Site / Project Inspectors.

3.3 It is the responsibility of Assessment Inspectors to ensure that they have a Service Order for all tasks (except those specifically excluded) and that the scope of work is agreed. This and other relevant data, as required, may be recorded in the database in Notes. They are also responsible for ensuring that the entries on the database are kept up to date.

3.4 CALM is responsible for ensuring the following are appointed:

1) a suitable person(s) to be responsible for the review and audit of this procedure, the supporting guidance and associated systems. This person(s) will be is responsible for tasking system manager(s) to address any administration matters associated with the database. (Note: System Manager access may also be allocated to support staff if necessary.)

2) a system manager(s) to address any problems with the database.

3.5 Divisional Support are responsible for prompting Inspectors to review / update their data prior to producing the OPM report.

4 Definitions

4.1 COIN – The Corporate computer database for recording and tracking Cases and Service Orders (among other things).

4.2 CALM - Corporate Assessment Liaison Meeting.

4.3 OPM - Output Performance Measure.

4.4 Originator - The staff member requesting work to be undertaken by means of a Case, which can be any Band 1 - 3 Inspector.

4.5 Assessor - The staff member carrying out the assessment, usually an Assessment Inspector.

4.6 Assessment SI - The Unit Head of an Assessment Unit, usually a Superintending Inspector (SI).

4.7 System Managers - any member of staff appointed under 3.4 (above), having privileged access to the database.

5 Procedure

5.1 Guidance on the application of this procedure is given in G/AST/002.

6 Associated documents

6.1 SMG Paper 99/40: Implementation of a Revised Assessment Work Management System.

6.2 G/AST/002 - Guidance: Assessment Activity Management and Use of the COIN database.

6.3 AST/FWD - Assessment Foreword

6.4 AST/001 - Assessment Process

6.5 AST/003 - Assessment Reports

6.6 AST/004 - Issues Recording Process