Joint statement from the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission and the Law Society of Scotland

The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission and the Law Society of Scotland have reached an agreement on the collection of the levy to fund the SLCC in 2020.

This agreement has been reached in response to the significant impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the legal profession, clients and public. The necessary restrictions on movement have halted transactions, reduced workload, and had an impact on the cash flow within businesses to support vital services to the public.

By law, a levy is set by the SLCC following consultation and must be paid by the Relevant Professional Organisations on 1st July each year. Individual practitioners are liable from that date, and the professional organisations must collect the levy and pay this to the SLCC. These legal requirements cannot be varied.

However, following an approach from the Law Society of Scotland the organisations have worked in partnership over the last six weeks to create arrangements that allow some flexibility. The SLCC will formally defer enforcement of half of the total amount due from the Law Society until 1 December 2020.

This provides the Law Society with flexibility in their collection of levy money from their profession. The Law Society will be issuing further comments on the detailed arrangements for Solicitors in due course.