SRA joins attack on ‘poorly informed’ Legal Services Board
The Legal Services Board stands accused of partiality and incompetence in the latest attack from a regulator.
In a forthright response to a consultation on its business plan, the Solicitors Regulation Authority says of the LSB ‘it is not clear that the organisation as a whole has sufficient knowledge or experience of the regulation of professions and conduct of business regulation’.
It says the LSB ‘could be perceived as aligning its own, economic liberalisation agenda too closely with the political objectives of the government of the day’.
The Bar Council yesterday said it had concerns over the costs and scope of the LSB’s ambitions.
The SRA’s response says the board:
- has taken a too interventionist and directive approach which, in our view, is inconsistent with the role of the LSB envisaged by the legislation, as an oversight regulator; and if adopted unamended, this plan would continue that approach.
- is ill placed, in terms of capacity and capability, to drive the detailed programmes and activities of frontline regulators as it has sought, and continues to seek, to do.
The regulator also bristles against the LSB’s statement that it will ‘monitor regulators’ adherence to their action plans closely and, where appropriate, take action for failure to keep to them’. It says that the SRA does not recognise the term ‘action plan’ and does not consider that it has agreed one with the board – or that it is necessary to do so.
In a covering letter, the SRA’s chief executive Antony Townsend, says the SRA ‘remains committed to a productive working relationship with the LSB to deliver the regulatory objectives, to which we have a shared commitment’.
‘However, as you will see from our comments - which will not come as a surprise to you given our earlier discussions - we do have some serious concerns arising both from our recent experience and the draft plan which, in our view, require significant revision to both the draft plan and the LSB's approach.’
Comments
Regulatory Spat
Pots and kettles!
Funnily enough, the job of
Funnily enough, the job of the LSB is to supervise the subordinate regulators.
A nice bureaucratic power struggle is now in progress. Interesting to see who has most political clout and therefore emerges as the winner.
The profession should support the LSB as it seems to understand some of the defects of the SRA.
How childlike
Run along and play nicely.
Perhaps the Law Society
Perhaps the Law Society should show some backbone and bang
some heads together.
Oh sorry my memory must be declining, the SRA are the Law Society,
and have the power, so watch out LSB, you are obviously a small organisation.
What was that ? You are the SRA 's regulator.
How very strange, you must have been hiding in the trenches for the last 5
years with you tin hat on. Wonder how you will fare now you have put your
head above the parapet. Watch out, watch out, Incoming.
and this helps the consumer how?
like they care?
Looks like the SRA are
Looks like the SRA are telling its regulatory body to keep its nose out
of the SRA business.
If this is not a just a bit of theatre then it is heartening to
note that even within the establishment the SRA's methods
are beginning to cause concern and at least one organisation is aware of
the undemocratic way power is being wielded by the SRA.
The LSB and the SRA are as
The LSB and the SRA are as bad as each other. The former is superfluous and the latter wrapped up in its own self importance and almost wholly divorced from the profession it regulates.
Like many in the profession, including those who are posting about Criminal PCT, the slashing of PI fees or the advocacy quality assurance scheme, I find myself at the point where after 32 years in practice I seriously find very little of value being a solicitor. There is virtually no area of work that is not under constant threat from one quarter or the other and as firms struggle with threats of work disappearing wholesale - family public funded, criminal, conveyancing, PI and even probate - our regulator has no other response or role in life than to impose a whole new costly regulatory regime, COLPs and COFRs, panels for every conceivable work type, without which we cannot have the privilege of doing increasingly unprofitable work, advocacy quality panels which require seasoned advocates to suck up to the judges, etc, etc
What the short sighted individuals both in the SRA and in government don't seem to realise is that they are fatally undermining a whole economic structure within the legal profession which has grown up over a generation to suite the needs of the times. Those needs have not diminished but the resulting chaos will see the wholesale and permanent departure of skills from the profession in key areas.
Ironically, we seem now in consequence of all this to be being hurded back to the position we were in 40 years ago when law firms were small, had no ambition to grow and overheads were kept to a minimum and when huge swathes of the population had no access to legal services. How much wil it cost government to pick up the pieces?
Cannot decide if I want to
Cannot decide if I want to work for the SRA or LSB?
As already working for both part time pro-bono so would be better to be paid by them and forget the other solicitor bit that I do in my spare time.
The trouble is, frankly, the
The trouble is, frankly, the legal world is exceedingly resistant to change and, by its very nature, good at making convincing arguments against anything it disagrees with.
Whether or not there is a compelling reason at the strategic level it will always be impossible to implement the kind of changes the LSA07 and the LSB are trying to do perfectly. There will always be limitations and mistakes.
The BSB and now the SRA are looking to jump on any mistake or misjudgment by the LSB and use that as evidence that the concept itself is flawed.
Oooh, the next time you take
Oooh, the next time you take some flak from the SRA don't take what they have to say on board but simply return fire that "‘it is not clear that the organisation [SRA, in this instance] as a whole has sufficient knowledge or experience of the regulation of professions and conduct of business regulation".
A regulatory bust up
Two playground bullies fighting over a football that is scarred, punctured and deflated.
SRA ARE SCARED
SRA are scared and therefore attack is the best defence.
Just because LSB has caught SRA out there is no need to have a go at your regulator.
Should SRA be intervened by their regulator the LSB?
Oh Dear
Kettle & Pot come to mind
It appears a bit of empire building is going on
Re; Comment
More pots and kettles than John Lewis!!!!!(Other retail outlets are avaliable)
Give the LSB some more ammunition
It seems pretty clear - everytime we come across the SRA getting things wrong, we need to complain to the LSB so they know what's going on.
Smells strongly of "jobs for
Smells strongly of "jobs for the boys". Anyone here adding any value to the public interest or the profession or merely seeking to justify their own threadbare existence.
SRA Law Society LSB
As far as I am concerned all these bodies are in collusion to bring down the High Street practice down to their knees .Some High Street will survive because of historic connections Will banks local connections
For Civil and PI Initial advice will in the future be sought on the internet and then if needs be for Court appearances through again internet via the insurers who will arrange representation and somehow prepare a trial bundle on limited information for the case prep as they have not seen the client.
Criminal law,who cares anyway as joe public doesnt it is just fat cat lawyers doing it
Non contentious all on line unless you need to sign say in your local bank like a will ,conveyancing with some witnesses.Easy to envisage I say
Good luck to the Judges! It is a disgrace what is going on at the moment .
My goodness glad I am not qualifying now in this oversubscribed profession as it is .Does anyone encourage kids to look at law as a career these days.If so they need he heads examining
SRA, LSB
How many people do they employ?
It looks like they are trying very hard to keep their jobs
SRA bully people
the reality is that it just one more example of the SRA bullying people.
the sra seems to fail at most things and does not serve the interests of the public at all.
but it is good at bullying!