Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025

15 Annual reports of category 2 regulators

(1) A category 2 regulator must prepare a report on the exercise of its regulatory functions as soon as practicable after the end of each reporting year.

(2) The report must include—

(a) information demonstrating how the regulator is complying with the regulatory objectives,

(b) information as to how the regulator is carrying out its regulatory functions,

(c) a statement on the regulator’s strategic priorities for the next reporting year in relation to its regulatory functions,

(d) a summary of the costs incurred by the regulator in carrying out its regulatory functions,

(e) information, in relation to legal services providers that the regulator regulates, about the number of conduct complaints remitted (or treated as having been remitted) to it under the 2007 Act, and the number of those complaints that are determined, discontinued or reinstated by it,

(f) information on any measures taken or financial penalties imposed by the regulator on the legal services providers that it regulates as a result of complaints remitted (or treated as having been remitted) to it under the 2007 Act (including information as to compliance with the measures and the actions taken to enforce them),

(g) information about directions (if any) given under section 20, including—

(i) the number of directions given in pursuance of each of the purposes in section 20(3),

(ii) a summary of which types of rules are being disapplied or modified (and how frequently they are being disapplied or modified),

(iii) any trends in the kinds of directions that were applied for, rejected or granted,

(iv) any changes in such trends (if any) from the previous report,

(h) where the Commission has given a direction in relation to the handling of complaints, details of how the regulator has complied with it,

(i) details of steps taken by the regulator to ensure compliance with any measures taken under section 19 by the Lord President,

(j) except in the case where the regulator is the Faculty of Advocates, a statement indicating whether the regulator considers the category to which it has been assigned is appropriate for the purposes of section 7 (having regard to section 7(6)).

(3) When preparing an annual report, a category 2 regulator must consult the independent advisory panel of the Commission.

(4) A category 2 regulator must—

(a) publish its annual report by such electronic means as the regulator considers appropriate, and

(b) send a copy of its annual report to the Lord President,

as soon as practicable after the end of the reporting year to which the annual report relates.

(5) In this section—

• “conduct complaint” is to be construed in accordance with Part 1 of the 2007 Act,

• “reporting year” means, in relation to a category 2 regulator, a 12 month period that coincides with the regulator’s financial year.