Manzoor: commissioner praises improvement, but more effort needed to avoid penalty

There has been an improvement in the Law Society's complaints-handling performance but more effort is needed to hit its 2005/06 targets and avoid the threat of a fine, the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (LSCC) said this week.


Issuing an interim report on the Society's work from April to September this year, Zahida Manzoor warned that on current trends, it is likely Chancery Lane will only meet four of its seven targets.


'At the end of the financial year, I will have to decide if the Law Society has handled complaints in accordance with its plan or not, and, if not, to consider if a penalty is appropriate,' she said. The penalty can be a fine up to £1 million or 1% of the Society's turnover, whichever is the lesser amount.


The LSCC was created to oversee the operation of the Society's complaints-handling process, as opposed to dealing with clients' dissatisfaction with how their individual complaint has been handled, which is the role of the Legal Services Ombudsman - a post held separately by Ms Manzoor.


She said she was particularly pleased that some of the targets for the time in which complaints are handled are now being met. However, she said that across the targets as a whole - which she described as only a small step towards effective and efficient complaints-handling - 'the improvements have been modest in nature'. Ms Manzoor said she sees this as the first year in a three-year process.


There was also a marked improvement in the quality of decision-making at the Consumer Complaints Service, with the ombudsman satisfied with the way the service had dealt with complaints in 68% of cases referred on, up from 63% in the same period the previous year and near the target of 70%. September's 79% was the highest monthly mark in three years.


However, customer satisfaction with the service fell from 64% to 60%, against a target of 68%.


Law Society chief executive Janet Paraskeva said she was pleased the LSCC recognised the improvements made, and predicted that the new consumer complaints board would push forward progress.


But she added: 'There is a fundamental misunderstanding about the nature and unintended consequences of meeting our complaints-handling targets. In order to hit some of the targets set by Ms Manzoor, we would have to ignore some complaints which have been in the system for over 12 months, which would be a disservice to the consumer.'


Meanwhile, the Law Society's independent commissioner, Sir Stephen Lander, has issued his final annual report, and commended the 'significant improvement' in the timeliness in handling new cases, decision-making and customer satisfaction. 'I think the Society should be pleased with the progress that has been made since a low point at the turn of the century,' he said.


However, he called on the Society to address his concern that it needs to ensure greater compliance by solicitors with rule 15 client-care provisions, and made a series of other recommendations to improve further the Society's work.


The former MI5 chief is now chairman of the new Serious Organised Crime Agency and a lay member of the Society's regulation board. His post has cost £1 million in total and Sir Stephen said it was for others to decide if it had produced value for money.


Society President Kevin Martin said that during his term, Sir Stephen 'has given valuable, incisive and impartial advice'.