Today, Wednesday 29 March 2023, the Office for Legal Complaints has published its Business Plan and Budget for 2023/24 for the Legal Ombudsman (LeO), together with an interim strategy for 2023-24.
Building on the progress it made in 2022/23, in 2023/24 the Legal Ombudsman will:
Chair of the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) Elisabeth Davies said:
“Not only has there been marked progress in improving customers’ experience of the Legal Ombudsman, but the journey to date has been one of complete transparency and accountability. Taken together, these have gone far in restoring stakeholders’ trust in LeO and its leadership.
In 2023/24 the OLC will maintain a laser-like focus on getting LeO to a level of performance that is both acceptable to its customers and sustainable in the long run.
Our interim strategy reflects these critical goals. In the OLC’s updated mission is an explicit focus on the early resolution of complaints – and in the objectives, a renewed emphasis on customers’ experience, quality and proportionality.
As we deliver these plans for the year ahead, we will also be laying the groundwork for an ambitious and comprehensive future strategy.
I am grateful for the constructive engagement we have with all those with a shared interest in our ambition: a trusted and thriving Legal Ombudsman scheme that supports a trusted and thriving legal sector.”
Chief Ombudsman Paul McFadden said:
“I’m extremely proud of how far the Legal Ombudsman has come. In the last year, we’ve substantially reduced waiting times for LeO’s service.
As we look ahead, we know we need to push further. We’re committed to doing everything in our power to reach the level of service our customers expect from us, and ensuring the gear change we’ve made is genuinely sustainable. This commitment is at the heart of our priorities for 2023/24.
LeO’s people are the driver of our success. It’s our focus on people that will ensure that, by the end of March 2024, we will have significantly improved consumers’ and legal service providers’ experience with LeO.
We’re changing our Scheme Rules to ensure we can truly take the right approach at the right time for each individual complaint. As we do so, we’ll monitor and strengthen the accessibility and quality of our service.
And we’ll continue to share our experience and insight, supporting legal providers to resolve complaints or prevent them altogether – while exploring how we can increase our impact in this space.
I welcome the broad support we received for our budget, which is essential to our ability to deliver on the commitments we’ve made.”
Notes
The Legal Ombudsman Scheme for England and Wales was set up by the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) in 2010, to help consumers resolve complaints about legal services. The statutory role of the Legal Ombudsman is to provide a scheme where consumer complaints about the service provided by regulated lawyers can be resolved quickly and with minimum formality. The OLC is the governing body for the Legal Ombudsman and an Arm’s-Length Body (ALB) of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). Oversight of the OLC is provided by both the Legal Services Board (LSB) and the Ministry of Justice.
The OLC’s previous strategy period ran from 2020 to 2023, with an interim strategy now in place to March 2024. The Business Plan, Budget and interim Strategy are published at: https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/media/t4hinmqd/olc-final-strategy-and-business-plan-and-budget-2023-24-final-published-version.pdf
For media enquiries please contact press@legalombudsman.org.uk
