§ Baroness Hooperasked Her Majesty's Government:
To whom the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors is accountable; how many complaints the office dealt with in 1999 and 2000; and what was the average time taken to process a complaint. [HL1042]
§ The Lord ChancellorThe Office for the Supervision of Solicitors (OSS) is directly accountable to the Chief Executive of the Law Society. In 1999, the OSS resolved a total of 21,647 complaints. This figure rose by 7,326 in 2000, when a total of 28,973 cases were closed. Information received from the OSS about the time taken to resolve cases is set out below, and shows an improvement in each category from 1999 to 2000.
1999 Compensation Fund Complaints 12.22 months Remuneration Certificate Complaints 15.64 months Conduct Complaints 9.05 months Service Complaints 11.08 months 2000 Compensation Fund Complaints 12.08 months Remuneration Certificate Complaints 5.85 months Conduct Complaints 7.06 months Service Complaints 9.31 months