Regulatory Statement consultation
About this 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. This includes making the SLCC a ‘regulatory authority’ and setting new regulatory objectives to guide the exercise of our regulatory functions. These new regulatory objectives apply to all regulatory authorities across the regulatory and complaints system. However, each regulatory authority will need to consider how it interprets the objectives with reference to its own powers and functions and how it will exercise its regulatory functions in a manner which “is compatible with the regulatory objectives, and it considers most appropriate to meet those objectives” (s3, 2025 Act).
Our draft Regulatory Statement outlines our understanding of the regulatory objectives and our initial thinking on how we will apply these to our work as we begin to implement the changes delivered by the 2025 Act. This consultation provides an opportunity to engage with stakeholders to help identify any new issues or likely areas of concern to inform our approach.
We plan to publish a final version of the Statement following consultation. However, the Statement will remain under review and further updates may be made as we learn from the implementation of the Act – it will remain a live document and open for discussion.
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:
- other regulatory authorities
- legal services providers and groups representing providers
- consumers and consumer groups.
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 |
This statement responds directly to the Regulatory Objectives, considering how we will apply each of them to our work. |
Significant new implications for public and consumers (including vulnerable consumers and equality groups) and compliance with the Consumer Duty |
The Regulatory Objectives are intended to have a significant impact on the public/ consumer experience of legal services. We believe our approach will have a positive impact on the public and consumers and that is set out in the statement. When we make a strategic decision, like this one, we need to consider compliance with the Consumer Duty. We will carry out an impact assessment as part of this consideration. We have drawn on existing consumer insight in developing the statement and we intend to consult publicly, including with consumer groups, to inform the final statement. |
Significant new implications for regulated sector/ business |
The Regulatory Objectives are intended to have a significant impact on the legal services sector’s experience of regulation. We believe our approach will have a positive impact on the regulated sector and that is set out within the Regulatory Statement. |
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. It also responds to the consumer principles, ensuring that services are accessible and consumers are treated fairly. |
How to respond to this consultation
The consultation will run for 12 weeks, closing on 3 February 2026. You can submit a response via the online form below detailing our questions to aid responding and analysis.
You do not have to answer all the questions, only those where you have specific comments to make.
Alternatively, 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
Reasonable adjustment requests and questions
If you have any questions about this consultation or you need information in a different format (such as large print, word document (.docx), rich text (.rtf) or text (.txt) or an audio recording), you can contact us using our webform, by email at enquiries@scottishlegalcomplaints.org.uk or phone us on 0131 201 2130.
If there is another format you would prefer, please ask us – we may be able to provide it.
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 1 May 2026.
