Law Society to consult solicitors on SLCC levy plans for 2016/17

The Law Society of Scotland is seeking solicitors’ views on the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission’s (SLCC) draft operating plan and budget for 2016/17.

The Society is keen to hear solicitors’ views on proposed SLCC fees in advance of submitting its response to this year’s SLCC budget consultation.

The SLCC has proposed a 6.8 per cent increase to its overall operating budget, which would be partially absorbed using its reserves.

The levy proposes a slight increase for private solicitors with a fee of £316 and has maintained the 2015 level for in-house practitioners.

Lorna Jack, chief executive of the Law Society of Scotland, said: “We’re keen to see continued efforts made by SLCC to deal with complaints effectively, keeping a firm focus on its statutory purpose. It’s will be interesting to see how the organisation is proposing to develop in the longer term to ensure that it can meet those obligations.

“We are committed to ensuring that we have a robust regulatory system to ensure that solicitors meet the standards required of them and that effective action can be taken where these standards are not met. We depend on the SLCC to support us in that.

“We will be examining the proposals in the SLCC annual plan, including the proposed increased costs, and its newly published four-year strategy in further detail. It will be essential that the SLCC focuses on its core role as the gateway for all complaints against legal practitioners, deals with complaints as quickly and efficiently as possible and investigates service issues as a priority. This is what the SLCC was established by the Scottish Parliament to do.

“We are also very keen to hear our members’ views before we submit our response to the SLCC in early March.”

Solicitors can send their comments to the Law Society by 5pm on Wednesday 17 February at: slcclevy@lawscot.org.uk.