OLC publishes 2021/22 Annual Report and Accounts for the Legal Ombudsman

The Office for Legal Complaints has today published the 2021/22 Annual Report and Accounts for the Legal Ombudsman (LeO). This sets out the progress made by LeO in transforming the way it works, so it can resolve complaints about legal services quickly and at the earliest possible stage.

LeO began 2021/22 with significant waiting times for complaints to be investigated. While there remained a substantial number of people waiting at the end of the year, the action LeO took toward becoming a more proportionate, flexible service meant that the outlook shifted considerably. The report highlights:

• How LeO’s focus on improving saw it resolve 6,576 cases in 2021/22: a 40% increase on the 4,702 it resolved in 2020/21.
• The range of early resolution initiatives LeO tested and developed, which in 2022/23 are expected to make up nearly a third of all resolved complaints.
• The impact these initiatives can have on waiting times – including a 66% reduction in the overall time taken to resolve low-complexity complaints.
• The radical action LeO has taken to accelerate these improvements, including consulting on changes to its Scheme Rules which, if taken forward, will mean people can get a much earlier answer about their complaints.
• How LeO addressed resourcing challenges by shifting to national recruitment, and setting in train plans for regional hubs, including a pilot in Cardiff.
• The positive engagement LeO continued to have with stakeholders about its performance, and how it continued to shared insights from complaints to help improve legal services.
• Significant progress across the organisation, including the development of new strategies relating to LeO’s people and to equality, diversity and inclusion, as well as improved assessments of governance and risk management.

Chair of the Office for Legal Complaints, Elisabeth Davies, said:

“Legal services occupy a uniquely important part in our lives, accessed at the point of significant transitions or transactions with potentially life-changing consequences.

It should be taken for granted that the Legal Ombudsman is ready and able to resolve individual complaints fairly and as quickly as possible. And more broadly, that it is a trusted voice in the sector, playing a full and active part in improving legal services for all.

In light of the extremely challenging backdrop against which the 2021/22 year began, the progress highlighted in this Annual Report and Accounts is all the more significant.

Taken together, LeO’s willingness to change, the progress it has made, and the openness with which it has worked, have made a profound difference.

As we look to this second recovery year, there is no complacency about the challenges ahead. However, there are clear and consistent signs that LeO is on the path to a sustained and sustainable level of good performance and quality service – one which meets the needs and expectations of both users and providers of legal services.”

Chief Ombudsman Paul McFadden said:

“I am very pleased to say that 2021/22 has been the year the Legal Ombudsman got back on a stable footing. We have addressed challenges head-on, taking radical action where it was the right thing to do.

That action has already made a profound difference to individual users and providers of legal services. Despite the significant challenges we encountered, we resolved 40% more cases than we did in 2020/21, including 1,200 through early resolution. In March 2022 we resolved a record number of complaints, and we are on course to halve the number of cases waiting by March 2023.

The foundations we have laid in 2021/22 have put LeO in a far stronger position to achieve our future aims for our customers. While there is more work to be done, we can look forward with confidence and a sense of real momentum.”

Notes

• The Office for Legal Complaints’ (OLC) Annual Report and Accounts for 2021/22 is available on the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) website.
• The Legal Ombudsman’s primary role is to resolve complaints about providers of legal services that haven’t been resolved to customers’ satisfaction. This includes complaints about the majority of legal services provided in England and Wales. There are certain rules and limits that might mean LeO can’t or isn’t the right organisation to help. These are set out on LeO’s website.
• The OLC’s Business Plan and Budget for 2021/22 was delivered within the second year of the 2020-23 corporate strategy period. Full plans for 2021/22 and 2022/23 are published on LeO’s website.
• The Legal Services Act 2007 established the Legal Ombudsman scheme and the Office for Legal Complaints to administer it. It also established the Legal Services Board (LSB) to oversee the regulation of the legal profession in England and Wales. Both the OLC and the LSB are Arm’s Length Bodies of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).