Govt names first Legal Services Board members

The Government has appointed the first-ever members of the Legal Services Board (LSB), with Financial Services Authority general counsel Andrew Whittaker and Irwin Mitchell senior partner Michael Napier QC among those to get the nod. The board, which was appointed by Lord Chancellor and justice secretary Jack Straw, was announced today (17 July) and will see the nine-member body take up their roles on 1 September for a three-year period.

July 17, 2008 at 09:43 AM

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The board, which was appointed by Lord Chancellor and justice secretary Jack Straw, was announced today (17 July) and will see the nine-member body take up their roles on 1 September for a three-year period.

Other members to be appointed to the board include former Reuters general counsel Rosemary Martin, Matrix Chambers founder David Wolfe, and Nicole Smith, panel chair at the Judicial Appointments Commission.

They will be joined by:

independent consumer consultant Barbara Saunders;
the recently-retired chief constable of Nottinghamshire Police, Stephen Green;
Financial Services Compensation Scheme non-executive director Terence Connor; and
Bill Moyes, executive chairman of Monitor – the independent regulator of the NHS Foundation Trusts.

The part-time role will carry a £15,000 salary for an estimated 30 days' work a year.

Board members will be required to work closely with LSB chair David Edmonds, who took up his role on the 1 May.

Early duties for the board will include establishing the design and outlook of the organisation and deciding on the new regulatory framework.

The move is another key plank of the Government's new Legal Services Act, which became law in October last year after finally receiving Royal Assent.

Under the new regime, the LSB will act as an overarching regulator for both the Solicitors' Regulation Authority and the Bar Standards Board, wielding the ability to strip underperforming professional bodies of their powers.

The LSB is expected to cost £3.9m to set up and is due to be fully operational by Spring 2010.

Jack Straw commented: "Establishing a new Legal Services Board is another important step towards raising the standards and simplifying regulation in the legal services sector. The Legal Services Board has an important remit as a new independent and publicly accountable body."