Law Society raises concerns over ‘inflation-busting’ legal complaints budget

The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission has proposed a 5.2 per cent rise in its draft budget for 2018/19 which must be paid for by all practising Scottish solicitors. It follows a rise of 12.5 per cent in 2017.

Law Society of Scotland president Graham Matthews, said: “It is highly frustrating that the SLCC has chosen to come forward with yet another inflation-busting rise in its levy. It comes over and above the massive budget and levy rise we saw last year which prompted such fury from solicitors who felt they were being charged more for a slow and inefficient complaints system. If passed, that’s approximately an 18 per cent rise over the course of two years.”

He added: “A significant part of the rationale behind last year’s 12.5 per cent rise was that there had been a 12.5 per cent rise in the number of complaints. While we never accepted this argument, the most recent annual report from the SLCC shows a rise in complaints of only two per cent. This further undermines the 5.2 per cent budget levy increase now being proposed. The proposals, if implemented, will impact particularly on private practice solicitors with an 8.5 per cent increase - more than double the current rate of inflation.”