Chamber and committees

Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill - Financial Memorandum

Overview

This Bill updates the regulation of legal services in Scotland and provides for a modernised regulatory framework.

Part 1 deals with the overarching regulatory framework. It has three Chapters which:

• set out what regulated legal services are to achieve and the standards that those providing services should follow,
• make rules for all regulators of legal services. It divides regulators into two categories and places different rules on each,
• set out how an organisation can become a regulator and its members can gain permission to provide legal services.

Part 2 sets out rules about how businesses that provide legal services should be regulated. 

Part 3 is about complaints about legal services and how they are dealt with.

Part 4 makes a variety of other changes, including:

• changing ownership limits for a type of legal business,
• making it simpler for charities and third sector organisations to provide legal services,
• creating new offences in connection with people who pretend to be able to provide legal services.

Financial Memorandum

As with all Bills, the Finance and Public Administration Committee invites written evidence on the estimated financial implications of the Bill as set out in its accompanying Financial Memorandum (FM).

Read the FM for this Bill: Financial Memorandum.

Your Views

The call for views closed on 15 August 2023.

The Committee received 4 submissions to the call for views. Read the submissions on Citizen Space.

The Committee agreed to forward the submissions received to the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee as part of that Committee's consideration of the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill and to take no further action.