The Commissioner's approach
Each year, in order to focus the Law Society on key areas for improvement, the Commissioner requests that it provides a Plan showing how it will deliver performance improvements in its complaints handling system and processes, to become effective and efficient.
The targets that the Commissioner sets and the Plan she requires from the Law Society go hand in hand and are both important. The targets indicate the level of performance required and the Plan should indicate how that level of performance will be achieved.
The Law Society's Plan for the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009
On 6 February 2008, the Commissioner set the Law Society its targets for the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009 and requested that it provide a Plan for complaints handling for the same period. The Plan shows how the Law Society intends to deliver improvements in its complaints handling system, and should include the targets and timeframes set by the Commissioner. The four target areas identified by the Commissioner were:
- Timeliness - building on and maintaining the improvement in the timeliness of complaints handling;
- Outcome of Decisions - improving the outcome of decisions on complaints;
- Plan Implementation - successful implementation by the Law Society, the Legal Complaints Service (LCS) and Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) of their Improvement Plan for complaints handling; and
- Cost Efficiency - improving cost efficiency in the handling of complaints.
On 5 March 2008 the Law Society's LCS and the SRA submitted an Improvement Plan for the Commissioner's consideration. The Commissioner considered the Plan carefully and on 27 March 2008 declared it inadequate for securing effective and efficient complaints handling. The Commissioner also stated that she proposed to consider whether to impose a penalty and if so in what sum. This was because the Plan failed to demonstrate a commitment by the LCS to achieve some of the targets at the levels the Commissioner had set. Only in the last quarter of the Plan year does it actually commit to achieving the suite of targets, which presents a significant risk for those expecting and dependent on seeing improvements in the service offered by the LCS.
On 3 June 2008, following representations by the Law Society, the LCS and the SRA, the Commissioner announced her decision to impose a penalty of £275,000.
On 11 June 2008, the Commissioner set the LCS an additional target relating to the handling of the Coal Health Compensation cases. This target came into effect on 1 July 2008.
In the absence of an agreed Plan for complaints handling for the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009, the Commissioner will be measuring the LCS and SRA's performance against the targets she formally set on 6 February 2008 and 11 June 2008.
Key documents relating to the Commissioner's decisions and targets are listed below:
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Press notice issued 3 June 2008 [PDF 54.8 kb, 7 pages]
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Text of the letter from the Commissioner to the Law Society dated 3 June 2008 [PDF 59.8 kb, 7 pages]
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Text of the letter from the Commissioner to the Law Society dated 27 March 2008 [PDF 41.9 kb, 6 pages]
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Text of the letter from the Commissioner to the Legal Complaints Service dated 6 February 2008 [PDF 17.6 kb, 2 pages]
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Text of the letter from the Commissioner to the Solicitors Regulation Authority dated 6 February 2008 [PDF 17.7 kb, 2 pages]
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The Commissioner's targets for the Law Society for the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009 [PDF 175 kb, 37 pages]
Law Society's performance against the Commissioner's targets for 2008-2009
The Commissioner has set the Law Society's LCS and SRA separate targets for 2008-09.
SRA Performance against the Commissioner's targets 2008-09
LCS performance against the Commissioner's targets 2008-09
