SLCC proposes 3.5% budget and levy increase

A 3.5% increase in its budget, and the levies on legal practitioners, has been proposed by the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission in its draft budget and operating plan for 2020-21.

In-house lawyers would pay an additional £4 a year at £120, advocates £6 more at £189, employed solicitors an extra £14 (up from £386 to £400) and principals and partners in private practice £17 more (£492 against £475), under proposals put out to consultation today, along with the Commission's strategy for 2020-24.

The budget increase, to just short of £4m, is intended to meet the cost of the SLCC discharging its duties "against a background of four years of rising complaint numbers and increasing complaint complexity". The draft strategy and operating plan focus on improvements in its complaint handling functions while supporting the sector to prevent the common causes of complaints. They also emphasise the SLCC’s commitment to working with others to tackle the unnecessary complexities and cost of the current system and make the case for a better statutory system.

SLCC chair Jim Martin commented: "Last year we were proud to report our best ever performance, dealing with more complaints and resolving them faster. This success was testament to the hard work of our staff and a continuing focus on improvements to our processes. This means we have been able to limit our proposed budget increase despite continued rising demand (a further 8% last year) and rising costs in a number of areas.

"The SLCC has worked hard to innovate within the existing system, and we will continue to identify opportunities to achieve further progress within the confines of our current legislation. However, we continue to believe that the system is in need of urgent reform."

Chief executive Neil Stevenson added: “While we are building on a strong base of improvements in performance over the current strategy period, it is essential that the levy we propose helps us to deliver our statutory functions. Alongside rising complaint numbers, we have seen rising legal and appeal costs and court fees, and above Consumer Price Index rises in essential core costs such as the public sector pay deal.

"The budget proposed is held tight to the successful delivery of our core duties of managing complaints and awarding redress, monitoring trends and delivering guidance and best practice support to the sector."

Click here to access the consultation documents. Responses are due by 12 noon on Thursday 19 March.