The Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (LSCC) has criticised the complaint-handling plan submitted by the Law Society as 'not adequate'.


The commissioner, Zahida Manzoor, said this week she had given the Society a further opportunity to amend the plan to show how it intends to meet the performance targets set for the year beginning April 2005.



She said: 'The Law Society's plan does not fully observe the guidance I have provided. It contains fundamental weaknesses in the information it gives.'



Chancery Lane: will revise plan

Ms Manzoor identified several areas where the Society needs to improve, including the performance targets she has set, initiatives to meet those targets, and measures to allow her office to track its performance.


'We are rapidly approaching the point where we must move on from planning to actually delivering benefits for the consumer. I am offering the Law Society just a little more time to get its plan right,' she said.



A spokesman for the Law Society said: 'We have received the LSCC's comments and we are seeking to revise our plan in an effort to meet her concerns.'



Earlier this month, Ms Manzoor - who is also the Legal Services Ombudsman - unveiled her three-year plan to improve the Law Society's complaint-handling at a meeting attended by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer (see [2004] Gazette, 4 November, 3).



This included proposed targets for the three years from April 2005, with those targets getting progressively tougher. Ms Manzoor wants to see that, by 2008, 99% of complaints are closed within a year.



The LSCC has a range of powers, including the ability to impose a penalty of up to 1% of income or £1 million, whichever is the smaller.



At the launch of the LSCC's plan, Lord Falconer said the Society had demonstrated 'a strong commitment' to improving its complaint-handling processes, but warned there is 'still much more to be done'.