SLCC to make cost savings through office move

The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission is to move offices in a bid to save £500,000 in costs over the next five years.

The organisation has not yet confirmed its new location, but has served notice under a break clause in the lease for its current city centre premises in Waterloo Place, Edinburgh. The move will enable it to downsize its office space, having developed new hybrid ways of working and invested in upgraded IT infrastructure with reduced need for physical storage.

It comes as the SLCC is due to confirm its annual levy on solicitors for the year from 1 June 2023. Its proposed 9% rise was challenged by the Law Society of Scotland, which called on the Commission to show that it was providing value for money and set out how efficiencies could be delivered to limit the increase.

CEO Neil Stevenson commented: “In our recent budget consultation, we indicated we were looking at options to reduce medium and long term costs of our services to the profession and clients, including around property.

“I’m delighted to now confirm we have served the break clause on our current office and home for the last 15 years. We’re not yet in a position to announce our new location, but we can confirm that the saving package will have a value of around half a million pounds over the next five years. This comes alongside improved environmental performance and reduced carbon emissions.

“Our strategy, published before the pandemic, committed us to further development of our flexible and remote working options for staff. It also initiated the move to fully cloud based IT systems, with the first phases being delivered just as we entered lockdown.

“The pandemic then proved we could work in new ways while improving business performance and customer service. We’ve been running in our new hybrid working model for over a year now, following design and testing with our staff team. This move is the chance to realise the further business benefit of that in reducing our floorplate while still offering a location which will help us to attract and retain talent.”