The Solicitors Regulation Authority has halted its search for a new chair and instead appointed the current incumbent to stay another two years.

In a surprise announcement today, the SRA said its board had decided at its meeting this week to extend Anna Bradley’s term as chair until the end of 2026. The meeting was held behind closed doors, as is standard for the SRA board.

Bradley had been expected to step down this year at the end of her six-year stay as chair. The SRA had gone as far as advertising earlier this year for a new person to fill the £105,000-a-year post. The deadline for applications was May and final interviews were due to have taken place in June.

In a statement, the SRA said: ‘Recent developments – including evidence of shifting risks in the legal sector - mean that this is not a steady state period for the SRA. As a result, there is significant organisational development scheduled for the next two years, which will be reflected in changes to our business plan for next year.

‘In the light of this, the board has taken the view that it is important to stay focused on the necessary developments and maintaining stability at board level will help.’

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The statement did not reference two ongoing investigations hanging over the SRA over its handling of Axiom Ince and SSB Group respectively. The oversight regulator the Legal Services Board has commissioned a review into the SRA’s response as both firms headed towards administration, and senior management have been interviewed as part of this work.

Bradley will now see the SRA’s current three-year strategy through to its end in November 2026. Key areas of focus in this strategy include work to improve how the SRA collects and uses data, proactive investigation work and changes to consumer protection.

Bradley was originally appointed as chair in 2019 and her term was renewed three years later. Under SRA rules the chair position must be held by a lay member – someone who is not a solicitor – and leads a wider board consisting of five lay and four solicitor members.

SRA governance rules state that the chair must serve a maximum term of six years but that can be extended by up to two years where there is an ‘organisational need’.