SRA doubles response time to complaints as reports surge

An unprecedented glut of complaints about lawyers has forced the Solicitors Regulation Authority to double the length of time complainants can expect to wait for a reply, the Gazette can reveal.

An automated response from the SRA’s assessment team currently states that complainants can expect to wait 50 to 55 working days for someone to contact them. Two months ago, the advice was that a response would be made within 25 to 30 working days. The emails are sent in response to the public and law firms that report concerns.

An SRA spokesperson confirmed that the estimated waiting times have had to be increased following an unprecedented level of reports. From September to November last year, the regulator received over 800 reports more than the 2,800 forecast.

The spokesperson added: ‘The increase has not reduced or stabilised, so to manage expectations among those that make reports, we have extended temporarily the time needed to get back to non-urgent queries.

‘We have also put in place measures to manage this increase, including additional temporary resources and longer-term improvements to speed up decision-making.’

It is understood that staff have been moved to the assessment team from other departments to deal with the deluge.

The SRA is now investigating any trends behind the rise in complaints about solicitors from the public and firms.

Such an increase in new cases will inevitably put the SRA’s resources under further strain. In her blog recapping the latest SRA monthly board meeting, chair Anna Bradley said it was clear that there will need to be an increase in the practising certificate fee next year, even with new measures to improve efficiency.

Bradley added: ‘We have to deliver business as usual, find the resources to address all of the newer issues and at the same time invest in the future by developing our capability and capacity to identify and respond to new and emerging risks.’

Bradley said the increase in complaints had caused the SRA to consider whether it is sustainable to continue to deal with them in the same way, although she did not expand on potential new approaches.