Lesley joins TPO as a skilled compliance and regulatory specialist, with a wealth of experience in internal governance, risk management, and complex decision-making. Her career started at the Solicitors Regulatory Authority, where she held a number of roles including as an integral part of the project team in operationalising the Legal Services Act. Latterly, Lesley worked in an FTSE 100 technology company, supporting the business in managing risks and process improvement. In addition to her substantive roles, Lesley sat on the Ethics and Integrity Panel Member at the Office for Police and Crime Commissioner for Cumbria for several years and is currently an Independent Decision Maker for The Bar Standards Board.
The role of Deputy Ombudsman was created in 2017 to support a more efficient complaints process. As TPO enters a period of development to support upcoming industry changes, as set out in the RoPA report, Lesley will play a critical role in reviewing casework, helping TPO to grow its future services and streamlining existing processes to ensure consumer complaints are handled with the greatest accuracy and efficiency.
New Deputy Ombudsman, Lesley Horton, said: “The property industry as a whole, and in particular estate and letting agents, are heading towards a significant era of change with the new proposed regulatory framework. This makes it an exciting time to be joining The Property Ombudsman, helping to support agents through the challenges and opportunities this will bring whilst, ensuring consumers have a clear route to redress when needed.”
