Rise in legal complaints costs prompts further criticism from Law Society

The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) has confirmed plans for an increase in its budget.

Following its recent consultation, the SLCC confirmed a 5.2 per cent rise in its budget for 2018/19. It includes an increase of up to 8.5 per cent in the levy which must be paid by solicitors, over and above a rise of 12.5 per cent in 2017.

Chief executive Neil Stevenson said: “The past few years have seen a combination of factors make a big impact on our workload. These include increasing complaint numbers and changes to our process coming out of court decisions.”

“As we highlighted in the consultation, our priority is dealing with this increased workload, including increased complaint handling times. The budget reflects that, and although we have identified efficiency savings in a number of areas, it will be necessary to increase the levy to fund increased staffing. This should ensure we’re dealing with complaints effectively and within a reasonable timescale.

“This means an extra £30 a year for solicitors in private practice, £9 a year for in-house solicitors and £14 for advocates.

“We are obliged by law to make sure that the levy is ‘sufficient to meet our expenditure’. This budget will allow us to do this.”

The SLCC is funded by a levy on members of the Law Society of Scotland, the Faculty of Advocates and the Association of Commercial Attorneys. Its budget and levy amounts are consulted on and set annually.

This year also sees the first levy set for the Law Society of Scotland as an ‘approved regulator’ of new legal businesses which can have non-solicitor ownership, and the first levies set for those businesses.

Graham Matthews, president of the Law Society (pictured), said: “For the second year in a row, the SLCC is planning an above inflation increase in the costs which solicitors and clients must pay to fund its operations. Worse still, it is the second year where the SLCC has consulted on draft plans and then made no changes in response to the concerns raised. Meanwhile, other similar complaints handling bodies are making efficiency saving and cuttings costs.

“There was a real opportunity here for the SLCC to progress major changes to the way it administers legal complaints. It could have looked afresh at how it operates and embrace some radical thinking to improve efficiency and cut costs. Instead, concerns raised in the consultation have been dismissed in the knowledge there is no body to oversee or reject the SLCC’s cost rise. In fact, the SLCC could have doubled or tripled its budget and nobody, not even the Scottish government, could stop it. This gap in accountability needs to be addressed in the years ahead.”

The independent review of legal services was established by the Scottish government in April 2017, led by chair Esther Roberton. It is expected to report in late summer. The Law Society recently submitted a detailed set of plans of reforms to improve the complaints system.

Mr Matthews added: “The current processes for handling legal complaints, many of which are set out in legislation, are slow, cumbersome and expensive. There are some quick fixes which could be made now and ahead of more fundamental reform.

“This could make the processes involved simpler, quicker and more effective, both for the public and the legal profession. We look forward to engaging with the Scottish Government over the coming weeks as we seek to build a consensus on how best to take these reforms forward.”