Budget & Levy
The SLCC is funded by legal practitioners in Scotland. Find out about our budget, how we spend it and the details of the levy which we impose on legal practitioners in Scotland.Budget & Levy
Although the SLCC was set up by the Scottish Government, we are not considered a public body as we have both public and private attributes.
In common with public bodies, we are subject to freedom of information, standards in public life and the Human Rights Act 1998. Our private attributes mean that we are responsible for our own finances, set our own annual budget and are not funded by the public.
Our funding comes from the legal profession in Scotland and this is through the payment of an annual levy, collected by the professional bodies from their members and from charges imposed when a complaint is upheld.
The professional bodies are:
- The Law Society of Scotland
- The Faculty of Advocates
- The Association of Commercial Attorneys.
The levies for Conveyancing and Executry Practitioners are collected by the Law Society of Scotland.
The SLCC's financial year runs from 1 July to 30 June of the following year.
What are the levies for the current year?
The current levies for 2009 - 2010 are:
| Solicitors with 3 plus years experience | £275 |
| Advocates | £223 |
| Solicitors within first 3 years experience | £138 |
| In-house and Outwith Scotland Solicitors | £91 |
| Association of Commercial Attorneys | £91 |
What are the costs involved if a complaint is made against me?
Complaints levies are charges made against legal practitioners when a complaint is upheld. The complaints levies for 2009 - 2010 are:
| Mediation Levy | £0 |
| No complaint upheld | £0 |
| Complaint accepted - First Settlement | £500 |
| Complaint accepted - Second and Further Settlements | £700 |
| Formal Determination - First | £800 |
| Formal Determination - Second | £1,200 |
| Formal Determination - Third and Further Determination | £2,000 |
Budget and Levy Information for 2010 / 2011
19 January 2010Consulting on next year's budget
In January of each year, the SLCC consults with the professional bodies and their members on our budget for the next financial year. This is in accordance with the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007.
Your can read the 
letters to the professional
bodies here (PDF 33.2MB)
and the budget proposals for
2010-2011 here (PDF 5.14 MB)
The professional bodies responded on 23 February 2010 and you can read their comments below:
Response
from the Law Society of Scotland (PDF 542 KB)
Response from the
Faculty of Advocates (PDF 72.3 KB)
More information is available in the Questions and Answers section
and the complaints process page.
If you have any further questions on the budget and levy, please contact us.
