“There are fundamental changes proposed for the legal profession in Scotland in the Legal Services (Scotland) Bill and it’s important these two distinct issues are debated and addressed separately.

“Prior to any second referendum, we intend to attemp to clarify the term ‘representation’ in the requisition to establish whether it includes the wide-ranging professional support, representation of our members' interests and negotiations that the Society currently carries out on their behalf at all levels of government in Scotland and the UK, overseas, and to other professions and stakeholders.

“The requisition today refers to the loss of independence if section 92 of the Legal Services (Scotland) Bill becomes law. The Society has, throughout the ABS debate, maintained that independence is of fundamental importance and will continue to press for amendments to the Bill to ensure it is not compromised.

“Even as currently drafted, ministers will not have ‘unfettered powers’ to set the number or criteria for those on the Society’s Council - that will be a matter for the Society's Council. As drafted, the government could decide on a proportion and type of appointments but only after consultation with the Society’s Council and the Lord President.

"The proposed 20% non-solicitor membership on Council, which will become part of the Society's obligations, was decided by Society Council members and has been agreed as appropriate by ministers. I do not believe that this threatens the independence of the legal profession in any way – in fact I think we stand to gain from the talent, knowledge and experience new lay members would bring, as have other professional bodies, the majority of which have lay members on their governing councils.

"Solicitors will continue to have a significant majority vote on issues affecting them . This is despite continued pressure from the consumer lobby for somewhere between 50% to 75% of lay membership on the Society's council. Lay members have also been on the Society's regulatory committees for around 20 years and all now have 50% lay membership. Non-regulatory committees are predominantly made up of practicing solicitors.

"I would suggest that, even without the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980, which requires the Society to represent the solicitors profession and public interest in relation to the profession, a professional body of any standing has to have the ability to regulate its members to maintain its reputation, high standards, integrity and ethical standing among its client base and the wider public, alongside its representative role.

"To split a professional body runs the risk of a split profession which in Scotland has historically been known for its collegiate approach. The UK Government split regulation and representation of solicitors in England and Wales. This has been an unpopular move among solicitors south of the border and has also increased membership costs of LSEW and the SRA combined by 19% this year alone. It is a credit to the the Society's representations to the Scottish Government that our proposal to design a Scottish solution for the legal profession has met with agreement."