Promotion of competition in the provision of legal services: FOI release

1 What steps have been taken by the Access to Justice Department of the Scottish Government to promote competition in the provision of legal services since the commencement of the Legal Services Act 2010

2 Have the Competition and Markets Authority been consulted regarding any plans to promote competition in the provision of legal services since the commencement of the Legal Services Act 2010.

The Scottish Government holds no specific recorded information on the ‘steps taken to promote competition in the provision of legal services’. However the Scottish Government has been working with the Law Society of Scotland regarding its application to become a regulator of Licenced Legal Services Providers, in line with the provision in the Legal Services Act 2010. The Law Society regulatory scheme was approved in January 2017 and work is ongoing to enable Scottish Government to authorise the Law Society to act as a regulator of Licensed Legal Services Providers.  The Scottish Government has also been working with the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission on developing a system of dealing with complaints made against an authorised regulator of Licensed Legal Services Providers.

The information you request is relation to you second request is attached. The Competition and Markets Authority was consulted on the content of the regulatory scheme submitted by the Law Society of Scotland in March 2016. It has also been consulted on draft regulations and guidance that set out the process for dealing with complaints against a regulator of Licensed Legal Services Providers.

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