Legal Ombudsman announces new Chief Ombudsman

The Legal Ombudsman has appointed Rebecca Marsh from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) as its new Chief Ombudsman.

Rebecca, who is currently the Executive Director of Operations and Investigations and Deputy Ombudsman at the PHSO, will join the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) in January.

She replaces Kathryn Stone OBE, who leaves the organisation in early December to take on a new role as Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. In the interim period, LeO’s Director of Operations Simon Tunnicliffe will become Chief Ombudsman.

Wanda Goldwag, Chair of the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC), said:

“I am delighted to announce that Rebecca will become the Legal Ombudsman’s new Chief Ombudsman as she brings a strong background in complaints, investigation management and leadership, together with relevant understanding and context for the role from her work at PHSO.”

 As well as being Deputy Ombudsman at the PHSO, Rebecca was previously a Commissioner at the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) for 10 years.

During her time at PHSO, she led a significant change programme in the way the Ombudsman works, with a core focus on service improvement and effective delivery. Both at PHSO and as a Commissioner at the IPCC, Rebecca handled many high profile and complex investigations.

Rebecca Marsh said:

“I am very pleased, and indeed proud, to have been appointed as the new Chief Ombudsman. I am looking forward to bringing my passion and commitment to ensuring high quality outcomes in everything that we do.”

Independent and impartial, The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints and offers a free service to easily guide the public through the process of making complaints when they feel they have experienced poor service from regulated legal or claims management service providers.