Let’s make complaints process a little easier for everyone concerned
Vicky Crichton on driving improvement through changes big and small
It’s a given that no-one enters a complaints process happy. Whether you’re a consumer bringing a complaint or a practitioner or firm being complained about, it’s understandably not a place you want to be.So it’s really important for us at the SLCC to work at making our complaints process as smooth and swift as possible, while delivering a quality service and fair and impartial investigations.
One of the ways we do that is through continuous improvement - we work in an agile way, identifying and testing small improvements that could make a difference and monitoring and seeking feedback from our staff and users on their impact. We’re proud of our award-winning approach and track record.
Improvements big and small have been tested and implemented and have made a tangible difference to customer experience. But we always believe there’s more we can do. Feedback from complainers, practitioners and stakeholders, along with input from our own staff and commissioners helps keep us scanning for new opportunities.
One live example is that our legislation sets out a prescriptive approach to the initial tests we must apply to see if there’s any reason why the complaint should not be investigated. Unfortunately, the ‘quick sift’ envisaged by Parliament that allows a complaint to move swiftly to being investigated or closed is at odds with the process inefficiency baked into the legislation.
Despite that, we’ve worked hard to identify opportunities for improvement and we’re testing a new approach to make the initial sift swifter and less onerous. We think it will allow complaints requiring further investigation to proceed swiftly to either resolution or to the relevant regulator, and to close those which do not. That’s in everyone’s best interests.
We believe these changes could make a difference to efficiency of the process. But importantly, they’ll also help provide a stepping stone towards bigger changes coming our way.
Where we’ve identified improvements that aren’t possible within the current legislation, we’ve worked with government to propose solutions through the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill, currently being debated in Parliament. We firmly believe these changes would allow us to operate a flexible, agile process that allows a proportionate approach to different types of complaints.
The changes proposed in the Bill aren’t the complete overhaul we were hoping for, but we believe they do provide an opportunity for significant improvement. We’re urging MSPs to support the Bill when it is debated next week. We can’t wait to get started on implementing the improvements it will bring to benefit both consumers and the legal services sector.
What none of this will change is our message to practitioners that the best way to deal with a complaint is by engaging with the complaint and the complainer, exploring their concerns and responding openly to any issues raised to help find a resolution.
Similarly, the best time to deal with a complaint is when someone makes that first expression of dissatisfaction, well before it reaches us. We offer guidance, advice and training for the legal services sector on dealing with complaints, as well as advice for consumers on how to make a complaint. Because while no-one enters a complaints process happy, we firmly believe open dialogue and a focus on resolution can mean everyone leaving it happy with the outcome they’ve agreed.
Vicky Crichton is Director of Public Policy at the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission