Amendment 28 makes it clear that different licence fees can be charged to different types of applicants for different types or categories of a licence to reflect the fact that there are now many types of business models entering the legal services market, such as those providing incidental financial services. The amendment allows for the charging of bespoke fees to be permissible under the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010. Allowing the charging of such fees would be part of the regulatory scheme rules. They would need to be approved by Scottish ministers, with the agreement of the Lord President, thus ensuring a check on the fee charging. An example of a licence that would apply only to certain businesses would be an incidental financial business licence.

Amendment 29 repeals section 49 of the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010. That removes the requirement that, for business entities to be eligible to be a licensed provider, they must be at least 10 per cent owned by solicitors or members of other regulated professions. That simplifies the regulatory framework and potentially broadens the pool of eligible professionals, which will encourage more diverse ownership structures within the legal profession and foster innovation and competition while maintaining high standards of professional conduct.

Under the 2010 act, an approved regulator must be satisfied that all non-solicitor investors are fit to have an interest in a licensed provider, for example in terms of their financial position and character. Section 64(4) of the 2010 act provides that, if a non-solicitor investor is a body, the regulator must be satisfied as to the fitness of both the body and any person having ownership or control of that body.

Amendment 30 relaxes that requirement so that it only applies in respect of persons who have significant control or ownership, as determined by the approved regulator, taking a more proportionate approach.

The bill repeals section 1 of the 2010 act, removing the duty on regulators to comply with specified regulatory objectives in the act in favour of the new regulatory objectives introduced by part 1 of the bill. Amendment 65 similarly repeals the obligation on legal services providers to have regard to the regulatory objectives under the 2010 act. Instead, those providers will need to adhere to the professional principles set out in part 1 of the bill. That change will reduce the regulatory burden on legal services providers, making compliance more straightforward while maintaining high professional standards.

Sections 77 and 78 of the 2010 act are, therefore, not needed. Section 77 requires approved regulators to act compatibly with the regulatory objectives in that act, and section 78 requires approved regulators to issue a policy statement in relation to section 77. Amendment 66 repeals those sections, and amendments 65 and 67 make related consequential changes.

I move amendment 28.

Amendment 28 agreed to.

Section 80—Majority ownership

Amendment 29 moved—[Siobhian Brown]—and agreed to.

After section 80

Amendment 30 moved—[Siobhian Brown]—and agreed to.

Section 86B—Safeguarding interests of clients