Equality, diversity and inclusion

The Legal Ombudsman has a strategy for ensuring that the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) are at the heart of everything we do – both as an employer and as a public service.  

Our internal approach to EDI aims to ensure that our people are represented and engaged, through building a culture where everyone feels they can be themselves and contribute at their best.  

To help us be a diverse and inclusive place to work, we have five active employee networks:

  • Disability and Carers Network
  • LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer+) Network
  • Men's Health and Wellbeing Network
  • REACH (Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage) Network
  • Women’s Network

These are sponsored and supported by our Executive team. Our networks are a key component in creating an environment where everybody can be themselves, contribute, flourish and succeed at the Legal Ombudsman. 

"The latest results from our Civil Service People Survey show that 79% of our people feel that the Legal Ombudsman is an inclusive place to work and that they are treated fairly."

Our external focus is about the service we provide, directly supporting our strategic objective to be a service that’s accessible to everyone who needs us. 

Our full EDI strategy is published alongside our wider three-year strategy. Our accessibility page explains the different types of support we offer to help people use our service.

Professional woman in glasses is working on her laptop. She's wearing a red jacket and is in a wheelchair.

Diversity data: LeO's people

We also publish this data in our annual report and accounts each year. 

Gender
Male   31.9%
Female 67.8%
Prefer not to say  0.3% 
Ethnicity
White 51.5%
Ethnic minority  24.9%
Prefer not to say/not given 23.6%
Disability
Yes 8.3% 
No  68.1%
Prefer not to say/not given 23.6%
Age range
20 to 29 13.6% 
30 to 39  37.5% 
40 to 49 26.0% 
50 to 59 17.9%
60 to 64   3.3% 
65+  1.0% 
Prefer not to say/not given 0.7%

Our data doesn’t always total to 100% due to rounding

Social mobility at LeO

At the Legal Ombudsman (LeO), we are committed to ensuring that people can succeed and progress in their careers regardless of their socio-economic background. We want our workforce and leadership to reflect the diversity of the public we serve, and we focus on removing barriers so that talent, not background, shapes opportunity. Since 2022, we have been tracking the socio-economic diversity of our leadership. In 2025, we expanded this analysis to include Senior Ombudsman and Ombudsman roles, giving a fuller picture of progression pathways across the organisation.

Some key highlights from our 2025 analysis include:

  • 60% of our Senior Leaders (OLC Board and Executive Team) and 64% of our Line Managers come from working-class or lower socio-economic backgrounds, well above national and legal-sector benchmarks.

  • 87–96% of our leadership groups attended state-funded schools.
  • A significant proportion of leaders and managers were eligible for free school meals, showing that individuals from financially disadvantaged backgrounds can and do progress into senior roles at LeO.

  • Many colleagues in leadership roles grew up in households where no parent attended university, which can present early barriers to career aspirations and professional networks. Their presence in leadership demonstrates that these barriers are being overcome at LeO.

We will continue to build on this progress by maintaining transparent reporting, ensuring development pathways are accessible, and keeping our recruitment practices inclusive and fair. Our goal remains clear: to create a workplace where everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed.

Gender pay

Our median gender pay gap currently sits at 4%, whilst our mean gender pay gap is 9%. 

Our latest report is available here.

Diversity data: LeO's customers

This data relates to the consumers involved in cases LeO resolved in the 2023/24 financial year. Each aspect of this data represents between 600 and 700 consumers, and we are working to increase the number of people who participate in this type of survey. 

Gender
Female  46% 
Male 52%
Prefer not to say 2% 
Ethnicity 
Asian/Asian British 9%
Black/African/Caribbean/Black British  5%
Mixed/Multiple Ethnic Groups 1%
Other Ethnic Group  2%
Prefer not to say 4% 
White  78%
Health disability 
Yes 62%
No 33%
Prefer not to say 6%
Religion
Atheist  10%
Buddhist  1% 
Christian  48% 
Hindu 2%
Jewish 1%
Muslim 6% 
None  19%
Other  4%
Prefer not to say  10%
Sikh  0%
Sexual orientation 
Bisexual 1% 
Gay man  1%
Gay woman/Lesbian 1%
Heterosexual/straight  90% 
Other 0% 
Prefer not to say  6% 
Age
0-17  0% 
18-25 2% 
26-35 9%
36-45  18% 
46-55 21% 
56-64 23%
65+ 28% 

Our data doesn’t always total to 100% due to rounding

Public awareness of LeO

In 2025 LeO commissioned research into levels of public awareness of its service.

This found that: 

  • Unprompted awareness of LeO is 3% - that is, when asked what organisation could help them with unresolved complaints about legal providers, 3% of people spontaneously said, “the Legal Ombudsman” (another 10% of people said “the Ombudsman”). 

  • Prompted awareness of LeO is 65% - that is, when prompted around how much they knew about the Legal Ombudsman, 65% of people said they’d heard of us, and 40% said they knew something about us (i.e. some people had heard of us but said they didn’t know anything about us).  

LeO will use the full demographic breakdown of these results to help inform and support its EDI strategy and awareness-raising work.