SLCC Annual Report 2008-2009 release
The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission published its first Annual Report on Monday 8 February 2010.SLCC's first Annual Report indicates hard work and a solid foundation
08/02/2010Set up by the Scottish Government and funded by the legal
profession, the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC)
replaced the Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman (SLSO) when it
opened on 1 October 2008. On Monday 8 February 2010, the
organisation published its 
first Annual
Report.(PDF 2MB)
Jane Irvine, the SLCC Chair and former Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman said: "This annual report covers the first nine months of our operational life and documents our journey to implement a brand new system for dealing with complaints against legal practitioners and developing our oversight functions.
"It was an intense period of time with everyone contributing a huge amount of work to put in place procedures and policies for dealing with enquiries and addressing complaints under the terms of the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007.
" We received 3,355 enquiries during the nine month period, and of these, a small proportion were dealt with as complaints under the 2007 Act.
"The majority were registered by the SLCC, but were dealt with under old powers because the complaint originated prior to our opening on 1 October 2008.
"The majority of complaints were referred to the relevant professional body with the SLCC able to investigate how the professional body dealt with the complaint but not the actual complaint.
"Two hundred and three of these "handling" complaints originated prior to 1 October 2008 and were dealt with by the SLCC under the powers of the former SLSO."
The SLCC also has the authority to oversee and monitor the
Master Policy and Guarantee Fund under the Legal Profession and
Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007.
Jane Irvine continued: "One of our key objectives is to fully
understand the function and purpose of the Master Policy and
Guarantee Fund and to understand the experiences of the individuals
who have made a claim.
"The commissioning of research was a first step towards the SLCC exercising its oversight role."
Professor Frank Stephens and Dr Angela Melville from Manchester University School of Law were appointed to undertake the research which involved carrying out a literature review, interviewing people who had experienced making a claim against the Master Policy and Guarantee Fund, and contacting the Law Society of Scotland and their insurance broker who administers the Policy and Fund. The project started in March and was completed in May.
Jane Irvine commented: "The research created an important starting point for the SLCC's oversight role, which we intend to develop."
The SLCC accounts were signed-off by the Auditor General of Scotland in January 2010 and in relation to the SLCC finances, Jane Irvine said:" "We are conscious that our set up costs came from the Scottish Government and our ongoing funding comes from a levy paid by individual practitioners and a levy paid when a complaint is upheld.
"With this in mind, the SLCC has taken a measured approach when recruiting staff and our workforce will only increase in line with the level of work coming to us.
"I am confident that the hard work of the SLCC Board Members and
staff has laid the foundations of an excellent complaints handling
service, built on our core values of accessibility, independence
and impartiality."
ENDS
Editors Notes:
The role of the SLCC is to act as the 'gateway' for complaints
about the legal profession and to investigate complaints about the
service provided by legal practitioners. We also investigate
complaints about the way the Law Society of Scotland, Faculty of
Advocates and Association of Commercial Attorneys investigate
complaints about conduct
The SLCC has an important role in influencing the conduct processes, including the powers to audit and recommend changes.
The SLCC aims to be of service to both the public and the profession. We have an additional responsibility to share best practice, monitor trends, and highlight areas of concern.
The Master Policy is the compulsory Professional Indemnity Insurance which covers all Scottish solicitors working in private practice.
The Scottish Solicitors' Guarantee Fund protects those who have lost money because of the dishonesty of a solicitor or a member of their staff. It is a fund of last resort, which means it can only compensate those who have exhausted all other options, such as suing the solicitor for professional negligence.
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