Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of effectiveness of the Legal Ombudsman in processing complaints in a timely manner.

The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) plays an important role in ensuring consumers of legal services have access to an independent and effective complaints resolution process. It has been on a challenging journey to improve performance over recent years, having reduced the number of cases awaiting assessment by 42% between 2022-2024. Performance over the same period has also improved with the percentage of complaints resolved within 90 days increasing from 11% to 46%.

LeO acknowledges there is further to go to reach an acceptable position in terms of its queue and wait times. In response to these challenges, the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC), which oversees LeO, has implemented a modernisation plan. This includes increasing frontline staff capacity, enhancing case management systems, and streamlining complaint-handling processes.