FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
21 JANUARY 2019
LSB announces new appointments to the Office for Legal Complaints
The Legal Services Board (LSB) today announces the appointment of Rod Bulmer and Shrinivas Honap ACA as new lay members of the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC).
These appointments have been made by the Legal Services Board in accordance with the Legal Services Act 2007.
Commenting on the appointment, Dr Helen Phillips said:
“I am delighted to congratulate Rod and Shrinivas on their appointments to the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC).
I offer them my sincere congratulations and I know that their experiences in many diverse areas will significantly benefit the working of the OLC, the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) and the interest of the consumer of legal services.
I would also like to thank the outgoing members for their invaluable contribution to the ongoing development of the Legal Ombudsman.“
ENDS
For further information, please contact our press office on 020 7271 0068.
Notes for editors:
- The Legal Services Act 2007 (the Act) requires the Legal Services Board (LSB) to appoint the Chair and Members of the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) [Schedule 15 of the Act].
- The OLC is responsible for establishing and administering the Legal Ombudsman for England and Wales – the independent and impartial complaints resolution body for the legal sector.
- The Legal Ombudsman for England and Wales, as set up by the OLC (its Board), is independent and impartial. This means that when the service receives a complaint, it will look at the facts in each case and weigh-up both sides of the story. The Ombudsman is not a consumer champion or part of the legal profession, and is also independent of Government. There is no cost to the taxpayer.
- Rod Bulmer: Between 2007 and 2018, Rod held various senior roles within the Co-op Group, firstly as Executive Director of Co-op Financial Services, rising to Acting CEO then Deputy CEO of Co-op Bank, where he was part of the team given responsibility to rescue the bank and take it through significant transformation. He then became CEO of Consumer Services for the Co-op Group and most recently, Director of Strategy and Renewal Planning at Co-op Group. Prior to joining Co-op, Rod spent 15 years at Abbey/ Santander UK, finishing as Executive Director, Retail Banking.
- Shrinivas Honap ACA: Shrinivas has an extensive portfolio, with non-executive directorships including at the British Transport Police Authority (where he is Chair of the Pensions Committee). He is a member of the Board and Chair of the Audit Committee at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), Office of the Public Guardian, UK Atomic Energy Authority, and Office of the Public Guardian. He also sits on the Board of the Registrar of Scotland and is a Lay member of the Speakers Committee on IPSA. He was previously a non-executive in the NHS. In his executive career, Shrinivas held senior roles in Capita Plc, Vodafone and Egg Financial Services.
- The time commitment for an OLC Board member is estimated at a minimum 20 days’ a year across the period of appointment. The annual remuneration is £10,000.
- These appointments replace outgoing members Bernard Herdan and Michael Kaltz.
- The Act created the LSB as a new regulator with responsibility for overseeing the regulation of legal services in England and Wales. The new regulatory regime became active on 1 January 2010. The LSB oversees ten approved regulators, which in turn regulate individual legal practitioners. The approved regulators, designated under Part 1 of Schedule 4 of the 2007 Act, are the Law Society, the Bar Council, the Master of the Faculties, the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys, the Association of Costs Lawyers, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. In addition, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland is an approved regulator for probate activities only but does not currently authorise anyone to offer this service.
- The legal profession in England and Wales comprised 148,690 solicitors, 15,281 barristers, and 12,767 individuals operating in other aspects of the legal profession such as conveyancing (2018 figures). The sector is currently valued at £32.6 billion per annum (total turnover in 2016). For more information see here.