Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish their response to the consultation on the framework to enable complaints about claims management companies to be heard by the Legal Services Ombudsman, as provided for in the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013.

The Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 provides the necessary enabling powers to put in place the funding arrangements for the Legal Ombudsman to deal with complaints against claims management companies. These provisions were commenced on 21 March 2014. They include a power for the Lord Chancellor to make Regulations to charge fees to recover the costs he has incurred in meeting the expenditure of the Legal Ombudsman in relation to claims management complaints.

The Government consultation on the proposed structure of the Lord Chancellor's cost recovery fee ended on 6 June and the responses are being analysed. Once the fee structure is finalised, the Fee Regulations will be laid in Parliament for approval and the consultation response will be published at that time.