Fair, open, effective, shrewd and independent

Our Board is officially called the Office for Legal Complaints or OLC. It is charged with overseeing the running of the Legal Ombudsman by the Legal Services Act 2007.

Our board

Our Board is officially called the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC). The Legal Services Act 2007 created the OLC and made it responsible for setting up the Legal Ombudsman, creating its scheme rules and overseeing its performance. The Board ensures that they and the Legal Ombudsman promote the regulatory objectives set out in the Act, which are:
  • • protecting and promoting the public interest;
  • • supporting the constitutional principle of law;
  • • improving access to justice;
  • • protecting and promoting the interests of consumers;
  • • promoting competition in the provision of services;
  • • encouraging an independent, strong, diverse and effective legal profession;
  • • increasing public understanding of the citizen's legal rights and duties; and
  • • promoting and maintaining adherence to the professional principles
The Board has eight members, including Elizabeth France, the chair. You can find out more about them all here. The Board meets regularly and has created two committees to help it fulfil its role. The first is the Audit and Risk Committee, which is responsible for overseeing our risk management processes, governance and financial control framework. The second is the Remuneration and Nomination Committee, which is responsible for overseeing, among other things, the terms of employment of our staff.

You can read the minutes of the OLC and its committees below.


Audit and Risk Committee

Constitution and Terms of Reference; Audit and Risk Committee (pdf - opens in new window)


Remuneration and Nomination Committee

Terms of Reference; Remuneration and Nomination Committee (pdf - opens in new window)




Registers

Interests
Each member of the Office for Legal Complaints declares their interests. These are checked and updated quarterly. If you would like to see the register then please click here:

Board member register of interests (pdf - opens in new window)

Gifts and hospitality
Q4 2011-12 Quarterly register of gifts and hospitality (pdf - opens in new window)

Q2 2011-12 Quarterly register of gifts and hospitality (pdf - opens in new window)

Q1 2011-12 Quarterly register of gifts and hospitality (pdf - opens in new window)

Q4 Quarterly register of gifts and hospitality (pdf - opens in new window)

Q3 Quarterly register of gifts and hospitality (pdf - opens in new window)


Expenses

The OLC Board publishes details of expenses claimed on a quarterly basis. Due to the structure of the Legal Services Act, the OLC Board expenses are met by the Legal Services Board.