Meeting of the Parliament 20 May 2025
The independent regulator should report directly to the Lord President, definitely not the Scottish Government.
It is to the minister’s credit that ministers’ powers to intervene were removed at stage 2, following calls from the legal sector and the Scottish Conservatives. At stage 3, our overriding concern is that the bill fails to decouple the complex complaints process from the system of self-regulation by the professional bodies. That was a recommendation of the Roberton review, as well as the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee at stage 1.
I note comments from the SLCC’s Consumer Panel. It said:
“We are concerned ... that most of the attention and concessions in the debate so far have been given to the views of the legal profession, while there has been limited engagement with the views of consumers or consumer groups.”
The reality is that, for consumers of legal services, it is not always clear where self-regulation ends and self-interest takes over. The view among consumers is that it feels like David against Goliath.
The complaints process is overly complex, impossible to navigate and glacially slow. At stage 2, I lodged probing amendments that proposed using the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission’s existing infrastructure to investigate all conduct and service complaints.
My key point is that the bill merely tinkers with the status quo. The changes do not go far enough, which is why the Scottish Conservatives will vote against the bill later today.
17:37