Legal Services Act 2007

122 Appointment of the Chief Ombudsman and assistant ombudsmen

(1) The OLC—

(a) must appoint a person to act as Chief Ombudsman for the purposes of the ombudsman scheme, and

(b) may, with the consent of the Chief Ombudsman, appoint one or more other persons to act as assistant ombudsmen for those purposes.

(2) The person appointed under subsection (1)(a) must be a lay person.

(3) It is a condition of an appointment under subsection (1)(b) that the person appointed must not during the appointment carry on any activity which is a reserved legal activity for or in expectation of any fee, gain or reward.

(4) Each person appointed under subsection (1)(a) or (b) must be a person appearing to the OLC to have appropriate qualifications and experience to act as an ombudsman for the purposes of the ombudsman scheme.

(5) In this Act a reference to an “ombudsman” (except in the expressions “ombudsman scheme”, “Chief Ombudsman” and “assistant ombudsman”) is a reference to the Chief Ombudsman or an assistant ombudsman.

(6) A person’s appointment as Chief Ombudsman ceases if that person ceases to be a lay person.

(7) The terms and conditions on which a person is appointed as an assistant ombudsman must specify the consequences of a breach of the condition imposed by subsection (3).

(8) Subject to that, a person’s appointment as an ombudsman is to be on such terms and conditions (including terms as to the duration and termination of a person’s appointment and as to remuneration) as the OLC considers—

(a) consistent with ensuring the independence of the person appointed, and

(b) otherwise appropriate.

(9) Appointment as an ombudsman does not confer the status of Crown servant.

(10) In this section “lay person” has the same meaning as in Schedule 15.