Policy on disclosing information in the public interest - consultation

Why are we consulting?

The Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025 (the 2025 Act) makes significant changes to the SLCC’s powers and remit, which includes a new power to disclose information about complaints in the public interest. In doing so, it places restrictions on the kind of information that can be disclosed in the public interest (it must relate to a conduct complaint, regulatory complaint, services complaint or handling complaint) and who can make the decision to disclose information in the public interest (Board Member). The information may reveal the identity of any practitioner or firm to whom the complaint relates, but it may only reveal the identity of the complainer with the complainer’s consent.

The draft policy outlines when and how such disclosures can be made, ensuring compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements. The policy aims to support transparency, consumer protection, public confidence and learning from complaints, while ensuring that any decision to disclose information in the public interest is necessary, proportionate and fair.

As this is a new power, the SLCC is seeking views on whether the proposed policy provides an appropriate framework for making disclosure decisions. In particular, we welcome feedback on the public interest test, and whether the policy strikes the right balance between transparency, confidentiality and fairness for consumers/ the public and practitioners/ firms.

We've set out the legislative basis for these new powers and example scenarios of when the SLCC might wish to use this power.

Who is the consultation for?

Our consultation is open to all and we welcome submissions from anyone with an interest in our work. However, we would particularly appreciate responses from:

legal services providers and groups representing providers
consumers and consumer groups
the relevant professional organisations
other regulatory authorities.

What happens next?

We will consider all submissions and a final statement will be agreed by our Board. We will publish our final statement on our website, along with the outcome of the consultation.

Policy considerations

There are various matters the SLCC takes into account when forming a decision – our consideration of these is set out below.

Policy/ impact considerations	Preliminary conclusions
Compatibility with Regulatory Objectives	Section 73 of the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025 (“the 2025 Act”) introduces a clear power to the SLCC to disclose information about complaints in the public interest. This will be amended into the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 in a new Section 41A. This policy is compatible with the regulatory objectives. It specifically supports the objectives to: protect and promote the interests of consumers and the wider public interest, to promote quality, innovation and competition in the provision of legal services, to use and promote best practice in relation to assessing and improving the quality of regulation and compliance with applicable legislation and rules, and takes into account the principles that: a consumer should receive sufficient information about the consumer’s rights and the services that are available a consumer should be treated fairly at all times, and a consumer should be able to access a means of redress when services are not of a suitable standard.
Significant new implications for public and consumers (including vulnerable consumers and equality groups) and compliance with the Consumer Duty	Yes. The policy considers when disclosing information is in the public interest. Any actions in line with this policy would be taken in the public interest and/ or in support of public protection, with robust safeguards in place to protect the identity of complainers and, where appropriate, individual practitioners. Any decision to disclose information in the public interest will be subject to risk assessment, which will consider any actual or potential impact on protected groups.
Significant new implications for regulated sector/ business	Yes. Information in the public interest may reveal the identity of any practitioner or firm to whom the complaint relates, but it may only reveal the identity of the complainer with the complainer’s consent. It is important to ensure any information regarding the identity of the complainer is internally secure (e.g. data held on a secure server, personal data redacted in published decisions).
Any other major policy considerations	No other identified considerations.
Cybersecurity, IT, data protection or information governance implications	This statement does not raise any data protection or GDPR issues.
Significant finance or best value considerations	This statement has been considered in light of the SLCC’s statement on best value. It addresses the regulatory principle of proportionality, that is, taking appropriate action as required.

How to respond to this consultation

The consultation will run for 16 weeks, closing at 5pm on 8 January 2027.

You do not have to answer all the questions, only those where you have specific comments to make.

You can respond via email at: consult@scottishlegalcomplaints.org.uk or by sending a letter to:

Scottish Legal Complaints Commission
12-13 St Andrew Square
Edinburgh, EH2 2AF

You can response via Microsoft Forms:

Publishing responses

We will publish responses in full, alongside an analysis of the key issues raised in the consultation and any changes we have made as a result of the consultation. If you wish your response to remain anonymous, please check the appropriate box on the response form or state this clearly in your email or letter. If you ask for your response not to be published, we will still take account of your views in our analysis and we may identify you as part of a specific stakeholder group (e.g. consumer organisation or legal services provider), but we will not publish your response or list your name.

We aim to publish responses by Monday 1 February.