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