SLCC publishes final version of strategy to 2020

A finalised four year strategy to improve the system for bringing complaints against legal practitioners was launched today by the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.

Amongst the priorities in the strategy, which was consulted on in draft earlier this year, are:

• increasing public awareness of the right to make a complaint about a lawyer, and increasing the SLCC’s visibility;
• working to understand the public’s and the legal profession’s expectations of professional standards, including highlighting complaints processes;
• developing a culture of learning, so that complaints made to the SLCC can be used to improve levels of service, as well as national professional standards and regulation;
• further developing the SLCC as a high performing organisation;
• making sure that compensation or fee refunds awarded by the SLCC are always received by consumers – a problem in a small minority of cases at present.

The SLCC also aims to increase the transparency of its formal determination process, and publish more information on procedures and outcomes. "This will allow scrutiny of our work and understanding of our impartial role in making a final decision on whether a complaint between a lawyer and a consumer is upheld", the strategy document states.

It also reveals that the SLCC's board and senior management team are developing a set of measurements and performance indicators so they can report "robustly and accurately" on performance against its priorities. This will begin on a quarterly basis later this year.

Indicators include:

• the level of awareness of the SLCC;
• how long a case takes from start to finish;
• early resolution numbers;
• productivity;
• reducing the number of complaints being made;
• solicitor and client feedback questionnaires at the end of each complaint;
• internal and external audit assessments;
• readership rates of the SLCC's new electronic communications;
• "benchmarking" surveys with consumers and the professions, and staff surveys;
• press and media coverage;
• a balanced budget; and
• use of the SLCC's services around geography, protected characteristics, socio-economic background and other relevant factors.

SLCC chair Bill Brackenridge said the new document had come at a time when consumer rights had been climbing the public agenda. "We'll have been running for 10 years in 2018 and we now have a path, for then and after, to a more effective and efficient system for legal complaints", he commented. "Working in partnership will be crucial to its success and I’d like to thank our stakeholders for an open and challenging debate around the consultation.”

In addition to individual submissions, responses on the draft strategy were received from the Law Society of Scotland, the Faculty of Advocates, the Scottish Government, the Competition & Markets Authority and the SLCC’s independent consumer panel.

Panel chair Carol Brennan commented: “Having been consulted by the SLCC during the development of the strategy, we’re pleased to see that many of the issues we raised have been reflected in the final strategy. In particular, the needs of diverse consumers must be taken into account and we are keen to see how the work on consumer focus and clear communication moves forward.”

For the Law Society of Scotland, chief executive Lorna Jack said: “We are pleased to see that the SLCC has taken on board the feedback from its consultation before finalising its new four-year strategy.

“The core statutory functions of the SLCC are to act as a gateway for all legal complaints, deal with service complaints and carry out its statutory oversight duties. It is essential that the organisation focuses on these as it works to bring about operational improvements and effective resolution of complaints cases.”

Click here to view the strategy document.