Beneath the tweets with Neil Stevenson

AS THE legal profession embraces social media, our monthly column from the Scottish Law Society’s Neil Stevenson explains the stories behind some of his tweets.

The next few weeks will see @ScotGov announce proposals on how Legal Aid contracting may work

The Scottish Government will shortly announce proposals for how “contracting” may work – a move towards firms bidding in some way for “contracts” instead of being on a legal aid register and charging per service. We do not know what the contract-award criteria will be: quality, capacity, price or any other factor. However, we do know that possibly opening legal aid to a competitive bidding process for public contracts would see winners and losers, and advocates for and against change. We must hope they don’t usher in the same massive reduction in consumer choice and are beset by the same legal challenges as the arrangements in England and Wales have led to. The society will be publishing information to inform practitioners on the issues which contracting brings. We can expect another heated, complex debate.

Lessons in professional accountability from Mid Staffordshire NHS

Re: findings into the appalling treatment of patients, and unnecessary deaths, at Mid Staffordshire NHS trust. The executive summary sets out 290 recommendations – thoughtful, nuanced, focusing on culture and patients, and away from simplistic regulatory responses perhaps seen in previous scandals. The prime minister said “the regulatory bodies in particular have difficult questions to answer … [they] need to explain why so far no-one has been struck off”. Why were complaints never made against clinical teams, and what is the culpability of those clinicians (doctors, nurses and others) aware of the issues, even if not involved, in terms of not reporting colleagues? Professions have a direct accountability. In these times of cuts and austerity many professionals may need to consider at what point the system is so failing that it makes it impossible for them to deliver a professional service, and what their responsibilities are in terms of flagging that – which could apply as much in a law firm or in-house legal team.

We want your views on the proposed SLCC levy rise of 1.8% in charges this year

The society is calling for views from solicitors on the levy they pay to fund the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC). The society is keen to hear views on the proposed budget and levy before we submit our own response. There is a proposed 1.8 per cent rise in charges, and no current anticipated income from entrants to the legal market in the form of “licensed providers”, should any enter the market in 2013/14. Solicitors with views on the value being delivered to the public and profession, in terms of informing improved practice, can email [email protected] by 5pm on Thursday 21 February.