Ministry of Justice
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New Legal Services Board makes consumer focus a reality

New Legal Services Board makes consumer focus a reality

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE News Release (009/09) issued by COI News Distribution Service. 29 January 2009

Issued by the Ministry of Justice on Behalf of the Legal Services Board

The new Legal Services Board (LSB) today publishes its draft 2009/10 Business Plan for consultation.

Recently established as the independent body responsible for overseeing the regulation of lawyers in England and Wales, the LSB's goal is to reform and modernise the legal services market place by putting the interests of consumers and citizens at the heart of the system.

Commenting, the Board's Chair, David Edmonds, said:

"The reforms envisaged by the 2007 Act are designed to deliver personal benefits for individual consumers and collective benefits to society as a whole. This first draft Plan by my Board focuses on the need for a shared and robust confidence in the justice system, particularly in the individuals and organisations charged with protecting our rights and freedoms as citizens.

"We also want to make the market work better. This is not a distraction from more fundamental debates about the rule of the law and confidence in the legal system: it is an indispensable part of building that confidence for the individual citizen."

The Plan published today sets out the Board's vision for the way it wants to see the legal services market deliver for consumers in five years time, including:
* a market that allows access to justice for all consumers, with the goal of beginning to bridge the divide for those whose incomes exceed legal aid thresholds but fall below the level required to purchase legal services;
* greater competition in service delivery and the development of new and innovative ways of meeting consumer demand;

* empowered consumers receiving the right quality of service at the right price;

* an improved customer experience with swift and effective redress if things go wrong;

* legal services professions which are as diverse as the community they serve and which constantly strive to improve standards of practice, quality and education; and

* certainty and confidence in the regulatory structures underpinning the market.

Chris Kenny, Chief Executive, said:

"The Plan outlines what the LSB aims to deliver on key policy priorities. We want to tackle our regulatory objectives holistically and start establishing momentum on all of them in our first year. We will give particular priority to regulatory independence, alternative business structures, providing effective redress and working up a model of regulatory excellence in legal services.

"We will be a small, professional, organisation, focussed on achieving real outcomes for consumers and citizens, rather than either a bureaucracy or a think tank. We are concerned to provide value for money ourselves - and ensure that the legal services market does so for consumers and businesses."

The Business Plan is subject to consultation until 13 March 2009 and the final version of the Plan will be published in April.

Notes for editors:
1. The draft LSB Business Plan for 2009/10 can be downloaded from the Board's website http://www.legalservicesboard.org.uk/news_publications/index.htm.

2. The Legal Services Act 2007 provides for the creation of the Legal Services Board as the oversight regulator for legal services in England and Wales.

3. David Edmonds, Chair of the Board was appointment by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Jack Straw, on 23 April 2008 and took up post on 1 May 2008. Nine ordinary Members of the Board took up their posts on 1 September 2008. Chris Kenny, Chief Executive, was appointed on 2 October 2008, and took up post formally on 1 January 2009.

4. The legal profession currently consists of some 15,000 barristers, 108,000 solicitors and 14,000 individuals operating in other aspects of the legal profession such as conveyancing. The sector is currently valued at £23.34 billion per annum (total turnover in 2006).

5. For more information please contact the Legal Services Board on 020 7271 0072.

ENDS

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