Case Study

RIPA Workflow at the Ministry of Justice

This workflow ensures that staff have answered all the relevant questions, when they are requesting authorisation for surveillance activities. It means that those looking to grant approvals know that they have done so in a way that’s legally compliant, and have a full audit trail to show this.

The Challenge

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA), is UK legislation that regulates the use of surveillance and covert investigation techniques by public bodies. It provides a legal framework for these activities – doing surveillance outside of this framework could be breaking the law. So it’s vital that staff at the MOJ applying for approval to carry out such surveillance could ensure they were within legal guidelines.

It is vital that any approvals given are legally compliant. The team previously used complex workflows on forms. They wanted a tool where they could do this workflow in the system, feel sure they were staying within the law, and have a full audit trail.

The Solution

LinkSpace was configured as a workflow tool to support and then replace the well-established paper document-based process, with all data fields rationalised and transferred to web-browser forms. Wet signatures and emails were replaced by role based controls, dashboards and alerts so all activity was kept within the LinkSpace tool.

The Results

Staff can now apply for permission to do surveillance in a workflow that ensures their request, if approved, has been done so within legal guidelines. There’s also a full audit trail if needed. The system was configured within weeks, and deployed nationally in 3 months.

Staff tell us that “every step of the process is quicker, saving hours per application”.

Case Study

Managing International Defence Engagement Activities

Defence Engagement Activities are non-operational events - they don’t involve combat – such as training, diplomacy and military exercises. In order to secure funding and permission for these events, personnel in the MOD and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office must go through a rigorous approval process. A bespoke workflow has been created to apply for permissions and funding. Approvals are granted in the system by those with the right rank and authority. Applications need to meet strict criteria to be successful, such as being compliant with risk policies, overarching strategy, and financial rules.

Staff are guided to fill in up to 300 data fields so their application can be assessed, and there’s a full audit trail of the process. Fields also lead to other specifics being asked when needed.

The Challenge

In 2014, The MOD was looking for an alternative to spreadsheets to manage applications for Defence Engagement Events around the world. They wanted staff to be guided through a specific workflow, managers to be alerted to come into the system by email, and to have a full audit trail. They also wanted a system that recorded who made changes when, had configurable role-based access that they could set, and a tool where no information could ever be deleted and lost for good.

The Solution

The MOD decided our software LinkSpace would fulfil their requirements. They first deployed it a decade ago and it’s still used today.

Our team originally worked with MOD staff to create the exact workflow they needed, and the system has been tweaked whenever it’s been required ever since. This has been done by our team at Ctrl O, or by MOD staff, as it’s very configurable for those with the right access.

All data about International Defence Engagement Events over the last ten years is now stored in LinkSpace in a consistent way. It’s available centrally, providing a clear picture for reporting and analysis.

The Results

When Linkspace was configured, it solved all the problems identified by the project team, enabling staff all over the world to participate in the workflow in the way that they needed to.

Overall, procuring Linkspace resulted in a system that: was implemented four times faster than anticipated, reduced the original estimated procurement costs by 90%, and can be changed and reconfigured at zero cost in the future.

Case Study

Case Management for Counter Corruption

Sensitive information around potential corruption in prison officers is stored in one of our bespoke configurations of LinkSpace. It’s a secure way of following cases through due process, including disciplinaries or criminal proceedings. Robust role-based access means that many staff can only see data for a particular prison, or only edit certain fields.

In LinkSpace, provision of access to different data fields is very configurable, for those with the right authority. It means that those in charge can grant very specific access to different individuals.

For example, an auditor could come and view a whole case, but might just have permission to edit in one box, whilst data analysts might be able to see dozens of cases without seeing personal details like names or addresses. This enables staff in different teams and departments to be able to access and work with the relevant data in a way that reflects their job role and clearance.

The Challenge

A team at the MOJ wanted to keep track of potential cases of corruption in prison officers, in a way that was very configurable in terms of who could see and edit what.

This is very sensitive information – they wanted to be able to grant staff of different clearance and in different roles very specific access, and they wanted their own authorised managers to be in charge of that.

The Solution

LinkSpace enables authorised staff to have very granular control of role-based access. There are dozens of potential ways of viewing and editing the data, and it means that sensitive data can be protected, while a range of different staff work on a case.

The Results

Our system enables staff in different roles and departments to be able to work on a case concurrently, in the way they need to. Sensitive data is kept secure.