Office for Legal Complaints
Office for Legal Complaints
LSB's role in relation to the OLC
Performance reporting
Office for Legal Complaints
The Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) is the Board of the Legal Ombudsman. It is responsible for establishing the Legal Ombudsman scheme, creating its rules and overseeing its performance. The OLC must also promote the regulatory objectives set out in the Legal Services Act 2007 (the Act).
The LSB appoints the Members of the OLC Board. There are currently seven OLC Board members, including Wanda Goldwag, its Chair. More can be found out about OLC Board members here: http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/about-us/.
Rob Powell is Chief Executive of the Legal Ombudsman and Rebecca Marsh is Chief Ombudsman.
LSB's role in relation to the OLC
The statutory relationship between LSB and OLC is an unusual one in public sector governance terms and is set out in the Act.
The Act gives the LSB a variety of functions, powers and duties in relation to the OLC, including requiring it to appoint the OLC Board and approve its budget. The OLC is an independent public sector body in its own right and has its own statutory functions, powers and duties.
A Memorandum of Understanding describes how the LSB and the OLC work together.
Both organisations also have a statutory relationship with the Ministry of Justice. The way in which the three organisations work together is described in the Tripartite Operating Protocol.
Scheme Rules
The Scheme Rules are the framework describing how the Legal Ombudsman resolves disputes in the legal jurisdiction. These include who can complain to the OLC, what sorts of complaints the OLC will and will not look at, and the procedures for how the scheme will operate in practice. Under section 155 of the Act, the OLC must obtain the consent of the LSB before making rules.
| Application | Date | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Proposal to make minor linguistic changes to the Scheme Rules on the language of complaints | 8 March 2018 | Consented to by the Board on 22 March 2018 |
Performance reporting
The LSB is able to require the OLC to prepare and give the LSB a report in respect of any specified matter relating to the functions of the OLC. The LSB may also set, or direct the OLC to set, one or more performance targets relating to the performance by the OLC of any of its functions.
The following table lists where these powers have been used and the responses from OLC:
| Date | LSB requirement |
|---|---|
| April 2016 | Monthly reports on performance against quality, timeliness and cost from April 2016 to March 2017 On the expiry of the section 120 and 121 requirements issued in June 2015, the LSB used its power under section 120 to require the OLC, from 1 April 2016 until March 2017, to prepare and give to the LSB a monthly report in respect of the Legal Ombudsman scheme performance against quality, timeliness and cost; and a quarterly report providing the OLC's assessment of performance over the preceding quarter. LeO monthly performance report: February 2017 LeO performance assessment report: Quarter 3 LeO monthly performance report: January 2017 LeO monthly performance report: December 2016 LeO monthly performance report: November 2016 LeO performance assessment report: Quarter 2 LeO monthly performance report: October 2016 LeO monthly performance report: September 2016 LeO monthly performance report: August 2016 LeO performance assessment report: Quarter 1 LeO monthly performance report: July 2016 LeO monthly performance report: June 2016 LeO monthly performance report: May 2016 |
| June 2015 | Reporting requirements on quality, timeliness and costs targets, from 1 June 2015 to 31 March 2016 The LSB used its powers under section 120 and 121 to set targets and reporting requirements from 1 June 2015 to 31 March 2016. These addressed performance in relation to quality, timeliness and cost targets in administering the Legal Ombudsman scheme as regards its legal jurisdiction. If performance fell below these levels, the OLC were required to provide an explanation of why performance had not reached the target and the steps the OLC would take to remedy the situation. LeO KPI report: March 2016 LeO KPI report: February 2016 LeO KPI report: January 2016 LeO KPI report: December 2015 LeO KPI report: November 2015 LeO KPI report: October 2015 LeO KPI report: September 2015 LeO KPI report: August 2015 LeO KPI report: July 2015 LeO KPI report: June 2015 |
| November 2015 | Performance framework report by 1 November 2015 The LSB used its power under section 120 to require the OLC to produce a report, by 1 November 2015, on the proposals for a comprehensive framework for key performance indicators and performance measures. Letter from Steve Green to Mike Pitt: KPIs and performance measures Report: OLC revised KPIs November 2015 |
| June 2013 | Price transparency report by 1 April 2015 The LSB used its power under section 120 to require the OLC to prepare and give to the LSB, by 1 April 2015, a report regarding price transparency. OLC report on transparency of costs of legal services Annex to OLC report on transparency costs of legal services |
| January 2012 | Report on complaints outside the Legal Ombudsman jurisdiction by 1 August 2012 The LSB used its power under section 120 to require the OLC to prepare and give to the LSB, by 1 August 2012, a report regarding cases falling outside of its jurisdiction for reasons other than being out of time or having failed to complete the first tier complaints process. Letter from Elizabeth France to David Edmonds: Report on complaints outside LeO jurisdiction Report: Complaints outside the LeO jurisdiction |
LSB Governance Manual