Voice of doom is premature

This week's outburst from David Lock, the parliamentary under-secretary at the Lord Chancellor's Department, regarding complaints handling by the solicitors' profession was curious to say the least.

It was delivered in the stern tone that befits 'last-chance saloon'-style warnings, but it contained little, if any, news.The Office for the Supervision of Solicitors (OSS) is aware that it is fighting a battle against time.

The Lord Chancellor has left the OSS in no doubt that if he is not satisfied that speed and efficiency has improved, he will parachute in a complaints handling czar to ensure that it does.Indeed, the targets for avoiding that outcome are clear: by the end of December, the backlog of complaints at the OSS must be reduced to no more than 6000 cases; about 90% of new cases must be handled within three months of receipt and most of the rest within five months.

And the Legal Services Ombudsman must be satisfied with the quality of the handling of at least 65% of the cases that land on her desk.To hit these targets, the Law Society has allocated 11 million of new investment to the OSS.

The Society and the OSS provide monthly progress reports to Lord Irvine.

April and May were patchy, but the June figures have improved.Given that there is six months before the targets must be met, why is Mr Lock issuing such dire warnings? Perhaps that is a matter of internal politics at the LCD.

But he should think carefully before doing so again as such statements could create an unnecessary undermining of public confidence as well as damaging morale among OSS staff, both of which will be counter-productive in the longer term.