Andrew Stevenson

Andrew Stevenson, secretary of SLAS, said: “We are glad to see that the commission has decided to seek a reduced levy. Our response to the draft SLCC budget had sought a 10 per cent reduction, so the commission’s figure of five per cent is not all that we would have wished.

“However, this development shows that there is at least a consistency of approach in principle insofar as last year the SLCC had justified a 3.5 per cent increase by reference to a predicted increase in the number of complaints; an increase that never materialised. In fact, what we witnessed was a decrease and that is predicted for next year too.”

He added: “We continue to have concerns over the general scale of the SLCC’s budget. Each complaint generates far too much cost. In a large jurisdiction such as England there is a case for a separate complaints body with all the overheads that go with it. In Scotland the legal profession is too small and the number of complaints too modest to merit the administrative expenses of an organisation such as the SLCC.

“However, to its credit, on the issue of this annual budget it does seem that the commission has listened to the views expressed and acted on them in proposing this reduction. We particularly welcome the proposed 20 per cent reduction for newly qualified solicitors.”