Our Board
The Board's work this year
There is an annual cycle, set in statute, of planning, consulting on, finalising and then laying our budgets and operating plan in the Scottish Parliament. We then report at year end through externally audited annual accounts, which are also laid in parliament.
On a quarterly basis the Board reviews key performance indicators and performance data, risk registers, financial reports, progress against our operating plan, customer service feedback and reports from the audit and remuneration committees.
The Board also debates key issues of relevance to the SLCC. This year the Board tracked progress in the passage of the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025 and discussed initial plans for implementation. The Board also considered the new Regulatory Objectives set out in the Act and their implications for the SLCC’s work and agreed a draft Regulatory Statement to address them.
The Board commissioned an independent review of our governance. The main finding was that:
“There is positive evidence that supports the view that performance across all areas of SLCC’s governance is strong and (having reviewed many other organisation’s governance arrangements) beyond the standard of many similar bodies. In risk management terms it achieves, at least, reasonable assurance and significantly better in a number of areas. There is not a great deal to be done to achieve excellence in governance. However, as is to be expected from such a project, some potential improvement opportunities were identified in the course of this review.”
We published a summary and action plan in response.
Other issues considered this year include an updated quality management framework, lessons learnt from the impact of the recent high profile firm failure, the SLCC’s reasonable adjustments processes and a report on equality data.
Our Board and Audit Committee continued to monitor our cyber security preparedness, as a significant risk to our business and Board Members completed mandatory cyber security training.
As well as their governance role, our Board Members also make important decisions on complaints as non-staff commissioners. Members undertook refresh training on determination decision making.
Board member changes
In February 2025 we welcomed new lay member, Thane Lawrie, to the organisation.