Improving consumer confidence in the legal profession will be high on the agenda of the first chair of the Office for Legal Complaints, Elizabeth France, as work starts on how the organisation will be run.

‘Change is needed to improve confidence in the system,’ France told the Gazette.

Work will begin in July on a business plan for the OLC, as well as draft rules on how the ombudsman service will be run when it starts work at the end of next year, France said. Stakeholders and consumer groups will be consulted during the summer, with a wider consultation in late September.

France, who was appointed to the three-year post in November, said a home for the OLC has not been found but it will be in the West Midlands.

She told the Gazette: ‘We are not there to second-guess the profession. We hope the profession begins to see complaints handling in a different light. There is nervousness, which I hope we can address.’