In its budget for 2026-27, its anticipated expenditure is £5,990,482 (up from the previous year’s £5,064,575) and its anticipated income is £6,007,232 (up from the previous year’s £4,955,732). 

Of its 2026-27 budget, published for consultation today, SLCC chair, Jane Malcolm said: “People continue to seek the SLCC’s help in resolving complaints and both the number and complexity of complaints coming to us is on the rise.

“That means a greater workload for our teams in addressing the issues and helping to support complainers, many of whom are distressed and vulnerable. It also means that the improvements we have made in efficiency, while significant, are only helping us to keep pace with that rising workload.

“At the same time, work is now underway to implement the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025. The significant changes the legislation brings, once fully implemented, will further improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the complaints process. The Act also gives us new powers and functions, which must be appropriately resourced to deliver the benefits the Act is designed to bring for both the legal sector and the users of legal services.

“We are grateful to the Scottish government for their commitment to providing some implementation funding to support this important work. We have almost finalised a first payment of funding, and positive discussions have started on the possibility of further payment, in line with the Financial Memorandum which accompanied the Bill in Parliament.

“Beyond this, existing and additional staffing resource is required to implement and deliver the reformed complaints process and enhanced oversight role agreed by Parliament; while ensuring we continue to deliver a good service to those who need our help. This must be met from our core budget.

“In addition to implementation costs, we also expect new recurring operational costs to start this year for the independent Consumer Panel’s significantly expanded remit.

“Our role is to ensure the SLCC has sufficient funding to meet the demands of incoming complaints and to meet the statutory duties placed upon it by Parliament. The proposed budget and operating plan will ensure that we can continue to deliver a high-quality service, while implementing the reforms agreed by Parliament.”

SLCC chief executive Neil Stevenson added: “This year our priorities are maintaining our performance for our existing customers and delivering the improvements Parliament has agreed.

“With complaints continuing to rise, we need to ensure we have sufficient budget and staffing to meet this demand.

“We want to bring in proposed changes to the complaints process as swiftly as possibly to realise their practical and financial benefits. We believe those changes will make a real difference to consumers and the sector’s experience of the complaints process, as well as bringing further efficiencies, cost savings and cost avoidance through improved and more proportionate processes.

“This is also in line with feedback we received on last year’s budget consultation, with the Law Society of Scotland emphasising that improvements that could support efficiencies should be delivered as quickly as possible. We hope the proposed programme shows our commitment to responding to stakeholder views as well as our own priorities.

“This approach of balancing the cost of new powers with savings from improvements was anticipated in the financial memorandum approved by Parliament. We are working with the Scottish government to achieve this, but ultimately the decision of when to implement elements allowing cost savings sits with government and Parliament.

“Achieving these objectives means the levy is proposed to rise by 12.5 per cent this year. The average levy for an employed solicitor in private practice levy will increase by £58 to £522, while in-house lawyers see a £17 increase to £156. 78 per cent of lawyers will pay a discounted levy.

“We invite responses to the consultation on the draft budget, strategy and operating plan.”

The consultation is open until noon, Thursday 19 March 2026. The full budget and proposed levies will be reviewed again before a final budget is set.