OFFICE OF THE LEGAL SERVICES OMBUDSMAN

Early day motion 1418, tabled 16 June 2003 by Austin Mitchell (Labour). Signed by 60 members.

That this House is concerned at the dominance of the legal profession in the operation of the Office of the Legal Services Ombudsman, particularly in its production of unbalanced reports on the handling of client complaints about solicitors by solicitors at the Office of the Supervision of Solicitors and unfair adjudications which the Legal Services Ombudsman, as an agent dependent upon the legal profession merely signs; calls for compliance with the intent of Parliament by replacing the legal profession at the OLSO with independent lay investigators and permitting the Ombudsman to contract legal advice where appropriate; requires an assurance that publicly-funded OLSO personnel will not be deployed to the Office of the Law Society's part time Complaints Commissioner and that the present Ombudsman will not mimic the previous post holder by serving as an absentee figurehead unable to fulfil acknowledged duties; and further requires that in future the OLSO refrains from withholding details of publicly-funded assessments of the public perception of its performance from honourable Members and from the public.

Signatures by party: Labour 44, Liberal Democrat 11, Labour/Co-operative 4, Conservative 1.