Complaints: LeO under pressure
The Law Society is urging the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) not to launch a fundamental review of its rules when it should be focusing on reducing its backlog of cases.
The society said it was also opposed to LeO’s proposal for a 12% (£2.4m) increase its current £20m budget next year.
In the consultation [1] on its draft business plan and budget for 2026-27, LeO said the money was needed to cope with fast-rising levels of complaints and conduct a radical review of how it operates.
The Law Society’s response said it was concerned about a “continuing failure” to reduce the backlog of complaints.
Last year’s business plan forecast that the queue would be 2,875 by 31 March 2025 and 1,949 a year later. This year’s draft plan said it would actually be between 3,378 and 3,754 by 31 March 2026; the original goal a few years ago was to get it down to a workable level of 500-1,000 by 31 March 2024.
The failure to cut the backlog was “particularly worrying given LeO proposes to undertake additional work, such as a scheme transformation review (STR), while struggling to deliver its core statutory function – a speedy complaints resolution service”.
The continuing increase in demand, with LeO receiving 26% more complaints this year, made it “even more vital that resources are deployed efficiently and effectively to deliver LeO’s core function before any work beyond this is considered”.
The society said it was opposed to a 12% rise in LeO’s budget, which would be a “significant increase” beyond inflation.
“Previous increases in budgets have failed to reduce the backlog of complaints that require investigation to reasonable levels.
“It appears that among the reasons for that failure are a failure to improve staff productivity, LeO’s current processes and the use of the budget for services that extend beyond LeO’s statutory remit.”
The society said it would be appropriate for LeO to undertake “a limited review to consider how it might address any further rise in demand, particularly whether improved processes and productivity will result in greater efficiencies”.
However, in the consultation, the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC), LeO’s governing board, referred to a “radical” STR, including possible changes to primary legislation, amendments to its rules, case fees and transparency.
The society noted that LeO’s rules were changed in 2023, including cutting the time limit for bringing a case to only one year and giving LeO more discretion to dismiss complaints where the loss was not ‘significant’.
“No evidence has been advanced of the effect of these changes on LeO’s caseload and performance.
“It appears premature to propose another review, incurring further cost and utilising vital resources, until there has been sufficient time to see the full impact of these changes.”
The OLC has put an inflation-linked increase to case fees from £400 to £600 on hold pending the STR, which the Law Society questioned.
“Despite most respondents considering the proposed increase reasonable, the OLC board has decided to instead explore broader reform options, including tiered fees, polluter pays models, or another more innovative solution.
“More detail is needed about what an ‘innovative solution’ to LeO’s existing case fee regime would entail.”
The society urged the OLC “not to propose significant case fee hikes and to bear in mind that case fees should not be used as a means to limit demand for its service”.
Mark Evans, president of the society, added: “We urge LeO to focus on operational efficiency, explore outsourcing and automation. They must ensure that any budget increases are justified by demonstrable improvements in performance.
“Maintaining fairness, transparency and timely resolution of complaints is essential to upholding public trust and integrity of the legal profession.”
We reported last week [2] that the Legal Services Board has expressed “significant concerns about the viability” of the current LeO scheme as it struggles to get its caseload under control.