Neil Stevenson

Despite a fall back from last year’s unprecedented high – bolstered by a single incident – the underlying trend shows a steady year on year increase. This saw 1,339 complaints received by the SLCC in 2024-25 compared to 1,385 in 2023-24 and 1,281 in 2022-23.

The SLCC’s annual report also details a high number of cases in hand following last year’s record incoming, and continued work linked to the failure of a single firm, including ongoing stakeholder engagement and a lessons learnt exercise.

Despite this, the SLCC broadly maintained its performance, keeping pace with incoming complaint numbers and delivering its operating plan for the year.

The report also highlights the passing of the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025 as a key milestone, following more than a decade of debate and looks ahead to the significant transformation project to implement the legislative changes agreed by Parliament.

Neil Stevenson, SLCC chief executive, said: “This year started with significant uncertainty, with legislation delayed and very high levels of work in progress.

“I want to thank all of the SLCC team for their effort, enthusiasm, care, and resilience. We continue to be an organisation which sees change as an opportunity to improve what we deliver for the public and sector.

“That approach will serve us well as we look ahead to the changes required to our core complaints processes and the new responsibilities we will take on to help make legal services work for everyone.”

Jane Malcolm, SLCC chair, added: “It has been a busy, challenging and exciting year at the SLCC as we’ve managed a high complaints caseload while engaging with government, stakeholders and MSPs across the political spectrum in support of regulatory reform.

“We’re pleased to see the legislation passed and welcome the improvements it will deliver for people using legal services in Scotland. Looking at the many changes the legislation brings, it’s clear the SLCC is being given more flexibility and additional powers, not least in relation to the valuable contribution made by our Consumer Panel.

“We are committed to meeting Parliament’s expectations of us, and the Board is already working to ensure we can implement those changes as swiftly as possible.”