Office for Legal Complaints

Mr. Djanogly
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the running costs of the Office of Legal Complaints have been in each month since its inception; and what estimate he has made of its likely running costs in its first year of operation.

Bridget Prentice
The Office for Legal Complaints is currently in the process of setting up the Legal Ombudsman Scheme, which is expected to be in operation in the autumn of 2010, and has spent £1,643,000 of its implementation budget since 1 July 2009, when it was established. This represents an average cost of £235,000 per month.

The running costs of the Legal Ombudsman Scheme in its first year of operation are anticipated to be in line with its forecast budget of £19.9m per annum.

Mr. Djanogly
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the Office for Legal Complaints has installed an IT system to be used to manage its complaints process.

Bridget Prentice
No IT system for managing the complaints system has been installed yet. The Office for Legal Complaints has completed a tendering process for the installation of a case management system and supporting infrastructure. An announcement of the successful outcome of this process is expected to be made shortly.

Mr. Djanogly
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress has been made on the acquisition of the premises of the Office of Legal Complaints.

Bridget Prentice
The Office for Legal Complaints announced its permanent location on Tuesday 23 February. It will be located in the centre of Birmingham in Baskerville House.

As required under the Legal Services Act 2007 any commitments for premises undertaken by the OLC within its first five years must be approved by the Lord Chancellor. Ministerial approval for the OLC's preferred premises was given on 10 February.