Two recent announcements about the LCS have once again placed the spotlight on the effectiveness of the organisation.

What has been revealed is not the failing picture that some would choose to paint but that of a confident organisation making impressive strides year on year, whose performance now stands alongside the very best complaints-handlers.

Three years ago LCS had around 900 cases over a year old. Consequently, when the Board of the Legal Complaints Service was first appointed in 2006, its initial focus was on improving the speed of complaint-handling. LCS now closes 99.85% of files within 12 months and 67% within three months, hitting both targets the commissioner set this year.

Following on from success on timeliness, the past year saw LCS focus on improving the consistency and quality of its complaints-handling, with the past 12 months seeing remarkable improvements in service quality. Four quality targets show LCS operating in excess of 90%, another three at 80% and above. Customer satisfaction with the service has risen from 70% to more than 85% during the same three-year period as a result of these steps forward.

While speed and quality are the focus for the consumer, we recognise that the profession also has an interest in the cost of the organisation, and the focus in 2008/09 is to deliver a value-for-money service. Cost control is necessary, while making sure cuts do not impact negatively on complaint-handling.

LCS will be superseded by the new Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) in 2010. However, our plan for complaints-handling over the next year has no element of complacency. It contains stretching targets which will result in further improvements for our customers. It is important that our planning is proportionate, bearing in mind the finite life of the organisation, and so we would expect the 2009/10 plan to maintain performance, allowing us to put management effort into planning for transfer of data and people – managing the change while maintaining productivity.

We were fortunate to agree a complaint-handling plan with the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner for 2008/09 that delivered efficient and effective complaint-handling. This year, despite the plan showing yet higher targets, our plan is considered inadequate. So, by any reasonable measure, the fine handed down by the commissioner should be considered unjustified and disproportionate.

Put simply, you do not fine a successful organisation, let alone one that now leads the way in consumer redress. We recognise that there is still work to do, but also recognise the need to be proportionate in the period towards handover to the OLC. We have a real desire to be the very best. We are not there yet, but if we can continue to progress this year as we have since the formation of the board of the Legal Complaints Service, we will deliver exactly what we set out to do.