It’s a busy time at the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) as we look ahead to 2023/24. Having consulted on the Office for Legal Complaints' Business Plan, Budget and interim strategy late last year, we’ve considered the feedback we received and are preparing to put our plans into action. I'm very pleased to say that they've been approved by the Legal Services Board, and you can read them in full on our website.
Those who’ve followed LeO’s journey will know the scale of the changes we’ve made over the last year. In response to our consultation, it was reassuring to hear stakeholders’ positive feedback about the impact of those changes and their cautious optimism about our reaching the excellent level of service everyone rightly expects from us. In this LeO News, we share some of the recent engagement we’ve had and why it matters so much.
To give a sense of how far we’ve come, we’re forecast to end the year having resolved 42% more legal complaints than in 2021/22, following a 40% increase the year before that. The timeframe in which customers can expect LeO to resolve their complaints has decreased significantly, reflecting our shift toward the early resolution of complaints wherever possible.
That shift toward greater proportionality – giving the right outcome at the right time – will be helped by updated Scheme Rules from 1 April. This has been the focus of a substantial amount of engagement with our stakeholders over the last few months, helping ensure legal providers and consumers are aware and prepared for what the changes mean for them.
Everything we're doing is about building a platform for the future. We’ll be having plenty more conversations about that in the year ahead, as the Office for Legal Complaints develops a new strategy for 2024/25 onwards. Those conversations will include a focus on how we can increase our impact in preventing complaints and improving the legal sector for everyone.
In the meantime, as this LeO News highlights, there are plenty of opportunities to engage with us. If you have any feedback about LeO News, or LeO’s work, please get in touch at support@legalombudsman.org.uk.
