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The Ombudsman’s Annual Report 2008-2009

The Legal Services Ombudsman for England and Wales, Zahida Manzoor CBE, in her Annual Report and Accounts, has commented on the first steps towards the implementation of the Legal Services Act (2007).

The Act creates two new bodies, the Legal Services Board (LSB) and the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC). The Act requires the current legal professional bodies to separate their functions as both regulator and representative of their professions and will see the removal of complaint handling from them. The LSB will have oversight of the approved regulators who will have responsibility for the regulation of legal professionals’ professional conduct. The LSB will also have responsibility for the new complaints-handling body, the OLC. The Ombudsman commented:

“The creation of an independent complaint-handling body is something I have been advocating for many years. It is only right that in the future the legal professional bodies will not undertake the investigation of consumer complaints about their members.”

The Ombudsman reported that in 2008/2009 her Office has again performed to a very high standard. Of particular note is that her Office’s 2.2 months average turnaround time for investigations significantly exceeds the Office’s Government target of completing 90% of investigations within 6 months.

The Ombudsman was pleased to report that the Bar Standards Board has maintained their high level of performance and continues to improve their complaints and disciplinary processes. She did however note a slight drop in the performance of the Law Society Solicitors Regulation Authority. She was critical of the overall performance of the Law Society Legal Complaints Service, although she did see some welcome improvements in their turnaround times and service delivery. The Ombudsman commented:

“To enable legal professionals to compete in the present challenging economic climate it is critical that their professional bodies, including their complaints-handling organisations, continue to improve and develop.”

The Ombudsman said that she would be working with all stakeholders to help ensure that there is a smooth transition between the current and future complaint-handling organisations and that there are no gaps in service delivery.


Web links
http://www.olso.org/publications/AnnualReports/AR2009.asp