§ Mr. FlightTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the operation of the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors. [95451]
§ Mr. LockThe Lord Chancellor wrote to the President of the Law Society on 23 July. The letter set targets for the Law Society to achieve; these are that the number of unresolved cases on the Office's books should be down to 6,000 by 31 December 2000; and following this, 90 per cent. of cases should be dealt with within three months of receipt and 100 per cent. within five months. For the three months to date the backlog has been reduced by 1,700 cases ahead of target. I am encouraged with the progress that the Office has made towards reducing the backlog of complaints. I do recognise, however, that there is a long way to go for the Office to reach the targets set by the Lord Chancellor.