Scottish Legal Complaints Commission & other changes in regulation
Latest News - 1 July 2008
Commission appoints new chief executive
The Commission has announced the appointment of Eileen Masterman as their first Chief Executive. She is a former Chief Executive of Homes for Scotland and was previously Director of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in Scotland. She is currently involved with complaints investigations at the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman and has held similar positions, notably with the Commissioner for Local Administration in Scotland. In addition, she has been a volunteer lay representative dealing with complaints of professional misconduct and poor professional service.
She will take up the post on 11 August 2008.
Shorter Time Limit
To speed up the transition process of service complaints from the Society to the Commission and to provide a consistency of approach thereafter, the time limit for all complaints will be reduced from two years to one year. This will apply from 1 October 2008.
New Classification
Under the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act, the Society has been given the additional power to investigate cases of Unsatisfactory Professional Conduct.
This is a new classification of complaint and one which differs from other conduct complaints as any necessary disciplinary action is determined by the Society rather than the Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal.
The Society is currently working on the practices and procedures needed to implement the new complaint category in October 2008. The aim is to have the details available to the profession and the public by September 2008.
Latest News - 4 June 2008
Invoices for the Commission will be sent on 23 June 2008. For more details about the levy cost, please see below.
Latest News - 2 May 2008
The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission has announced its budget.
The Commission's initial budget is for a 9 month period and covers from October 2008 to June 2009. The budget has been set at £2.6 million.
The levy per solicitor for that period is:
- Solicitors with 3 years + experience - £307
- Solicitors with 1 - 3 years experience - £153
- Solicitors working in-house - £102
Advocates will pay a levy of £248
The figures are significantly higher than estimated when the Bill was under consideration but solicitors would at least now have the opportunity to plan their finances accordingly, particularly with a tight timescale for collection. The first invoices will be issued to the profession in June.
The Commission has published draft rules for consultation which can be found at their website at www.scottishlegalcomplaints.com .
Latest News - 30 April 2008
The budget for the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission was today laid before the Scottish Parliament. More detailed information concerning the Commission's budget and levy costs to the profession will be available next week.
Latest news - 24 April 2008
The new Scottish Legal Complaints Commission is set to open its doors to complaints on 1 October this year. It will act as the gateway for all complaints and will handle service complaints. The Society will continue to handle conduct complaints as part of our regulatory work.
The Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act states that the commission is to be funded by the profession rather than the government and that the Law Society of Scotland must collect the levy payments which will fund the Commission from our members.
When originally promoted, the estimated cost of the annual levy was around £200 per member of the Society. Now costs are estimated at between £400 and £500 per solicitor in private practice but the actual cost will not be known until the Commission's budget is finalised. The Society proposed various discounts for newly qualified solicitors and, importantly, those 'in-house' posts. It is anticipated that the Commission's budget will acknowledge these proposals when it is published later this month.
What we don't know
The Society has been urging the Commission to confirm:
- The final budget for the new Commission (due to be laid before Parliament by the end of April)
- The amount of the levy to be collected by the Society
- The rules and procedures for handling complaints
- Whether a start date of 1 October is realistic
What we know
- The Commission plans to open its doors to complaints on 1 October 2008
- The Commission may only accept complaints about service provided from that date but the Society will handle all service complaints arising from the period up to 1 October
- The Society will need to run its systems for handling service complaints for at least another year, retaining current operational capacity and related costs.
- There will be additional administrative, IT and communications costs for the Society to collect the levy and resource its work with the Commission
- The set up costs of the Commission are to be met by the Government
Impact on the Profession:
- The Society has already indicated to solicitors that the levy is likely to be between £400 and £500 for a solicitor in private practice. This uncertainty in the levy is a concern for firms and finance departments which need to budget for this year and the next. The Society has made the profession's concerns clear to the Commission and the Government and has called for clarity on costs.
- The Commission's financial year seems set to run from 1 July and the Commission is likely to demand that the levy is paid to them for that date which leaves a very short time period for the levy to be set and collected. It is likely that the first year's charge will be for the 9 months of operation from 1 October.
The Society
- The longer the Society is left without the information it needs, the less time it has to adapt it processes which will have cost implications.
- The Society will continually update this page with any information it has for members.
- As the budget must be laid before Parliament by 30 April, we hope to be able to give more information to the profession at that time.
- In the meantime the Society will continue to raise the profession's concerns about the uncertainties surrounding the new Commission with the Scottish Government and the Commission.
Latest News - March 2008
The cost of the Scottish Complaints Commission for practitioners is beginning to come clear as the Commission prepares its budget for approval for the Scottish Parliament in April.
As part of the Society’s discussions with the Commission on the practical working arrangements between the organisations, the Society has been consulted (as required by the Legal Profession and Legal Aid Act) on the Commission’s annual levy on solicitors.
The exact amount of the levy is not yet known but many firms and organisations are preparing their budgets for the coming year and as a guide for budget planning, members should be aware that the full annual levy is likely to be between £400 and £500 per solicitor. As the first levy will be for the first six months only, only half the levy will be charged. The Society continues to express its concerns about this amount particularly as it is now more than double the amount that was put before the Parliamentary Finance Committee in 2006.
The Society has recommended to the Commission that there should be reduced Commission levies for in-house solicitors (33% of the full levy), solicitors in their first three years of practice, (50% of full levy for private practitioners and 16% of the full levy for in-house practitioners).
The Legal Aid and Legal Profession Scotland Act 2006 requires Council to collect the levy from each member of the profession. The Society will be asked to collect this first half-year’s levy between July and September this year. The next Commission levy will be for a full year and the Commission is likely to expect collection of the levy early in 2009.
The Board of the Commission has been announced by the Scottish Government. The Board will consist of five non-solicitors and four solicitors. Jane Irvine, the current Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman will chair the Board.
Background
Until now, all complaints about solicitors, whether relating to service or conduct, have been investigated by the Law Society of Scotland. From 2008, the Society will only handle conduct complaints. Service complaints will be dealt with by the new Scottish Legal Complaints Commission. The Commission will be governed by a board with a non-solicitor majority, and a non-solicitor chairperson. The members will be appointed by Scottish Ministers with the involvement of the Lord President.
The aim is for the Commission to start operating by October 2008, although it may be up and running by summer next year. It will be based in Edinburgh.
The Society is represented on the Scottish Executive Steering Group which is looking at issues relating to the setting up of the Commission. The information contained here is intended to keep the profession and the public as informed as possible. Please continue to check this page for updates.
Click here to view Commission Q&As
A series of roadshows will be hosted by faculties across Scotland.
| 6 February |
Kilmarnock |
| 13 February |
Greenock |
| 5 March |
Dumbarton |
| 12 March |
Edinburgh (WS Society) |
| 19 March |
Kirkcaldy |
| 26 March |
Dundee |
If you have any further queries, please email us at
regulationqueries@lawscot.org.uk
