Background Part 3 - Complaints Section 63 – Annual general levy and complaints levy
168.This section amends sections 27, 28 and 29 of the 2007 Act (which relate to levies payable by practitioners in relation to complaints handling by the Commission). The changes to sections 27 and 28 introduce a levy requirement for practitioners that are corporate bodies (previously the levy was only payable by individual practitioners, for example solicitors and advocates). They also ensure that the levy is payable by authorised providers of accredited regulators (see Chapter 3 of Part 1). The amendments to section 28 also provide increased flexibility to the Commission to decide when the complaints levy should become chargeable to the practitioner.
169.The changes made to section 29 allow for the setting of the amount of “the annual contribution” and “complaints contribution” by the Commission (for context, see also the explanatory notes on section 64). They also give the Commission discretion to, in relation to the annual general levy, set different amounts for different persons, and allow it to make rules setting out circumstances in which the Commission may waive a portion of the levy. In addition, the changes ensure that the Commission can get the information it needs to set the levy.