Complaints process responses show mood for change
27 Oct 05
Executive consultation produces 84% view in favour of dividing Society's functions
A total of 84 per cent of responses to the consultation about the regulation of the legal profession are in favour of scrapping the current system of complaints handling.
The Scottish Executive has revealed that 490 responses to the consultation paper were received. Of these, 85% were from members of the public, including those who had had complaints dealt with under the present system. As part of the consultation exercise, the Law Society of Scotland wrote to 6,000 previous complainers after consumer groups asked the Scottish Executive to widen its consultation.
The main reasons given for ending the present Society-run system were to counteract the public’s perception that complaints were not treated fairly and to prevent conflicts of interest. The Scottish Consumer Council has already described self-regulation as anachronistic and outdated.
Caroline Flanagan, the President of the Law Society of Scotland, said: “The Society was among the 85 per cent of people who want to see change. We hoped that our direct mailing of 20,000 leaflets encouraging a response from 6,000 complainants and around 1,400 firms in Scotland would have produced a larger response to the consultation.
“It means that in spite of our encouragement and many solicitors responding to the Society, there was only a 2% response to the direct mailing.
“We knew that the many of the responses would be critical of some aspects of the Society’s role, but I am also heartened by the many positive comments made.
“The summary gives us plenty to work on with the Scottish Executive. We were keen to hear the views of solicitors and now that we have a clear summary of those views, we can look at our work again and are happy to continue to exchange ideas and proposals with the Executive and other stakeholders.
“Whatever changes are decided by Parliament will take at least two years to come into effect and that means that we will have to plan for any changes that are agreed.”