Making legal services reform a reality

09 April 2009

The Legal Services Board has today published its Business Plan for 2009/10 and a consultation on proposals for recovering the costs of regulation from the legal services profession. Alongside these announcements, the LSB has also confirmed the make-up of its senior management team.

The LSB’s Business Plan, developed following extensive consultation with stakeholders, describes how the legal services market place is expected to evolve to deliver improved benefits to consumers, to lawyers and to the public interest at large, over the next five years. It gives particular priority to work on regulatory independence, alternative business structures, providing effective redress and the development of a model of regulatory excellence in legal services.

Commenting on the announcements LSB Chairman, David Edmonds, said:

“The appointment of our senior team, and the other decisions we are announcing today, mark the next decisive steps in establishing the LSB.

“We will now be able to tackle the vital tasks of improving access to justice, promoting the interests of consumers and the public interest and opening up the legal market. Parliament has given us these responsibilities and I am delighted that our consultation exercise has shown wide support for our ambitious and innovative approach.”

The senior team charged with delivering the programme of reforms will be:

• Director of Regulatory Practice – Fran Gillon, currently Director, Universal Service and Customer Protection at the Postal Services Commission (Postcomm)
• Director of Finance and Services – Edwin Josephs, most recently Director of Finance and Operations at the National Consumer Council
• General Counsel - Bruce Macmillan, currently EMEA Senior Counsel for the Consumer, Retail and Business distribution divisions for Dell Corporation
• Director of Corporate Affairs – Julie Myers, currently on secondment at the LSB from her post as Head of Strategy and Communications for the Bar Standards Board
• Director of Strategy and Research – Crispin Passmore, currently Strategy Director at the Legal Services Commission

All will be in their new roles by the middle of May.

Commenting on the appointments, LSB Chief Executive Chris Kenny said:

“The Board’s new senior team has extensive experience of the current regulatory framework, the needs of corporate and individual customers and a determination to improve access to justice.

“Their wider experience in public and private sectors, from economic regulation and the consumer movement, means that we are well placed to evaluate and apply lessons from beyond the sector as well.”

As laid down in the Legal Services Act, the LSB must make rules to govern the way the costs of the LSB, and the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC), are spread between the eight Approved Regulators. The leviable costs of implementing the LSB and the OLC will be no more than the £19.9 million budget set aside for the reform programme announced by the Ministry of Justice during the passage of the Legal Services Act 2007.

The consultation paper published today sets out proposals for rules for the apportionment of implementation costs for the OLC and LSB and running costs for the LSB from January to March 2010.

Launching it, David Edmonds said:

“Parliament, in passing the Legal Services Act, was very clear that the costs of legal services regulation should be borne by the sector in accordance with fair principles.

“Our approach to cost recovery will be transparent, accountable, proportionate, consistent and targeted.

“Our proposals have been informed by discussions with the Approved Regulators and we will continue to work closely with all interested parties to make sure that the final policy we arrive at is workable and fair.”

Notes to Editors

1. The Legal Services Act 2007 provides for the creation of the Legal Services Board as the oversight regulator for legal services in England and Wales.
2. The LSB oversees eight “Approved Regulators”, designated under Part 1 of Schedule 4 of the 2007 Act. These are the Law Society, the Bar Council, the Master of the Faculties, the Institute of Legal Executives, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys and the Association of Law Costs Draftsmen, all of which in turn regulate individual lawyers and organisations.
3. The legal profession currently consists of some 15,000 barristers, 108,000 solicitors and 14,000 individuals operating in other aspects of the legal profession such as conveyancing. The sector is currently valued at £23.34 billion per annum (total turnover in 2006).
4. The LSB’s Business Plan 2009/10 can be found online at: http://www.legalservicesboard.org.uk/news_publications/publications/index.htm
5. The consultation paper on funding proposals can be accessed online at: http://www.legalservicesboard.org.uk/what_we_do/consultations/index.htm
6. The consultation exercise on the principles for cost recovery will run until 30 June, allowing for a technical consultation on the drafting of the precise rules over the summer. The amount payable by Approved Regulators will be confirmed in the autumn, and the first payment made to the LSB by 28 February 2010. The LSB will consult separately in early 2010 to agree the principles of recovering ongoing running costs from April 2010 onwards.
7. For more information or interview requests please contact the LSB on 020 7271 0072.