OSS looks to future as it nears 6,000 caseload target ; ;The Office for the Supervision of Solicitors (OSS) has unveiled its performance criteria for next year as it heads towards meeting a target of reducing its caseload to 6,000.

;A slight relaxing of current time limits for complaints-handing is suggested with 50% of written ;complaints being dealt with in three months, 70% within 12 months, and 100% within two years.

;Kevin Martin, chairman of the Societys compliance and supervision committee, said the current targets, to deal with 90% of cases within three months and 100% within five months failed to take account of the complexity of a large number of ;cases.

;Quality targets are to rise.

From next year, cases received or closed after September 1999 must meet with the Legal Services Ombudsmans satisfaction in 70% of cases.

The figure will rise to 80% by the end of 2002.

The target is currently 64%.

;The quality figure for November was 48%; however this was heavily influenced by a logjam of pre-September 1999 cases.

The figure for cases handled after that date, when new procedures were introduced at the OSS, was 73%.

;The caseload at 30 November was 7,144.

This has been affected to an extent by the threatened floods in Leamington Spa, home to the OSS, as well as 335 complaints arising from the ongoing Brandons case affecting 15 law firms which were centrally managed by Surrey firm BJ Brandon and had their accounts emptied simultaneously (see [2000] Gazette, 5 October, 5).

;Mr Martin said it seemed likely that the target of 6,000 would be met.

To reduce it from 18,000 to 6,000 in 18 months speaks volumes, he said.

;Sue Allen