asked Her Majesty's Government:

What action they will take following the open letter dated 27 March from the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner to the Law Society giving notice that in rejecting its plan for complaints handling for the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009 it was “disappointing that moving into the 4th plan year, the Law Society is not yet delivering effective and efficient complaints handling and neither does it have an adequate plan to achieve this”. [HL3021]

The Government appointed the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner in 2004 as an independent regulator of the Law Society's complaints handling functions. Therefore, the Government do not become involved in discussions on the plan for complaints handling. However, it remains the Government's view that the Law Society and LSCC should work together effectively to deliver continued and sustainable improvements for consumers.

The Government have legislated in the Legal Services Act 2007 to create an independent Office for Legal Complaints, which will remove complaints handling from the legal professional bodies.