An independent report commissioned by the Legal Services Board into the future of the smaller regulators has stressed that they must not be forced into radical changes in response to the Legal Services Act.

The report, by former Ministry of Justice official Nick Smedley, predicted there could be major upheaval with the arrival of alternative business structures.

But it stated the LSB must not be tempted to impose collaboration and accepted that smaller regulators will be able to remain independent.

‘The option of combination will be more powerful and more likely to endure if it comes from the SARs themselves ‘pulling’, rather than the LSB ‘pushing’,’ concluded the report.

‘The LSB, however, is responsible for assuring parliament, the public and other stakeholders that the system of regulation over which it presides is fit for purpose. Accordingly, at the very least the LSB should expose the risks to the SARs of them choosing to ‘carry on as before’.’

The bodies included in the study were the Association of Costs Lawyers, the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, the Master of the Faculties, the Institute of Legal Executives and the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys.

Chris Kenny, chief executive of the LSB, assured them the board does not start from a presumption that ‘big is beautiful’, adding that regulators of all sizes have the potential to regulate effectively.

The CLC welcomed confirmation that smaller regulators will have a significant role to play in the profession after October.

Chair Anna Bradley said: ‘The CLC, like all regulators in this sector, is fully aware of the challenges the new LSB requirements present for all of us (big and small) going forward.

‘This is why we have a clear corporate strategy for strengthening our capability and capacity, building upon our good record on risk management in the conveyancing market.’