Backing from Society for Government's "Consumer Scotland" plan

The Law Society of Scotland has expressed its support for Scottish Government plans to establish a single consumer body for Scotland.

Ministers opened a consultation this week on proposals for a new body, called Consumer Scotland, to identify areas of harm to consumers and recommend solutions (click here for report). It invites views on how the Government can best use powers on consumer advocacy and advice to reduce inequality and build trust between consumers and businesses.

The Society believes the potential scope of the issues which could be considered by Consumer Scotland to be broad enough to include legal services, as the Government has specifically highlighted the need for research on the consumer impact of the unregulated legal services market, one subject being considered by the current review of legal services regulation.

Alison Atack, President of the Law Society of Scotland, said today: "The Scottish Government is absolutely right to be proposing the creation of Consumer Scotland.

"As the professional body and regulator of the solicitor profession, we always work to put the interests of consumers front and centre in our thinking and actions. It is why we have non-solicitors involved throughout our regulatory committees, so the public interest is always represented.

"However, in recent years there has been a gap created by the absence of a single consumer body with the right expertise, knowledge and capability to engage and consult with when we are considering regulatory and other reforms. We think a body like Consumer Scotland, if set up and funded properly, could provide real value in not just leading research but being a powerful voice for consumers."

She added: "We obviously need to consider the detail of the proposals but this is a positive step from the Scottish Government."