[1]Davies: maximising our impact on behalf of consumers
Elisabeth Davies was yesterday reappointed as chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel.
Ms Davies’s term runs from 1 August 2012 to 31 March 2015 after a period as interim chair following the resignation of original chair Baroness Hayter to pursue her political interests in the House of Lords.
The decision to keep Ms Davies in the role will keep the panel’s wide-ranging workplan [2] on track, with issues such as enhancing the safety net for consumers who suffer from sub-standard legal advice, ongoing competence testing and best practice standards for legal comparison websites among those that it will champion over the next year.
David Edmonds, chairman of the Legal Services Board, which is responsible for the appointment, said: “I am delighted that Elisabeth will be continuing as chair of the consumer panel. The panel, under Elisabeth’s leadership, continues to play a unique and important role in making sure the interests of consumers are put right at the heart of the legal services sector. They have a challenging work programme ahead.”
Ms Davies said: “It’s been a real privilege to lead the panel in recent months and over a period of such rapid policy change. This is set to continue and I know the unique role of the panel will be more important than ever. I’m very pleased to have a further opportunity to build on what the panel has already achieved, maximising our impact on behalf of consumers and ensuring they can access high-quality and affordable legal services which meet their needs.”
Ms Davies is director of partner relations at Age UK, where she works closely with over 160 local Age UKs across England and supports the work of Age Cymru, Age Northern Ireland and Age Scotland.
She was previously deputy chair of Wandsworth Primary Care Trust and is the former chair of Wandsworth Citizens Advice Bureaux. Her career includes a series of senior roles in the health arena including at the National Patient Safety Agency, the UK Breast Cancer Coalition, the Patients Association and the World Cancer Research Fund. She was also previously director of policy at the Refugee Council.