The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission has announced today that it will reduce its budget for the coming year . The body was recently criticised by the Law Society of Scotland for ‘costing more for doing less’ and pointed out record spending from the SLCC, despite handling significantly fewer claims.
In a formal response to the budget consultation, the Law Society called on the SLCC to reduce its budget for the forthcoming year. The SLCC has today announced a 5% reduction in its levy and a 20% reduction for those who are in their first three years of practice.
Law Society of Scotland President, Amanda Millar said,
“Last year, the Law Society delivered an unprecedented £2.2 million package of financial support to the profession, including a 20% cut in our core practising certificate fee. We called on the SLCC to follow our lead and to reduce its financial impact on the legal profession. I am pleased the SLCC listened to the Law Society and has now agreed to reduce its budget.
“However, this needs to mark the start of a much needed change in attitude from the SLCC. It cannot be right that it costs more for doing less given complaints against solicitors are lower than three years ago. This is clearly unacceptable at a time when the legal sector is working so hard to survive the economic fallout of COVID-19.”
We previously caught up with Vicky Crichton, Director of Public Policy at the Scottish Legal Complaints about what solicitors and firms can do to avoid complaints and why communication on progress and fees are key. Listen now: