The Solicitors Regulation Authority has stated that it should become a separate entity from the Law Society.
Responding to the Legal Services Board (LSB) Consultation on reviewing Internal Governance Rules, the SRA has stated that the current arrangement – where both organisations operate independently as part of the Law Society Group – has led to disagreements regarding independence.
The SRA stressed the value of its independence, in terms of both securing public confidence and acting objectively in the public interest.
In turn, the regulator went on to state that ‘The best way to realise this public benefit and achieve independence within the current framework is for us as the regulator to be established as a separate legal entity within the wider Law Society Group.’
Such a model, it said, would help to ensure the total separation of operations, resources and governance, as well as improving operational efficiency through the provision of greater control.
Transparency of cost was another factor, with the regulator highlighting that separation would enable it to provide both the ‘public and the profession with clear reporting on the cost of regulation’. This, it said, was something that the existing arrangement did not permit.
The full response can be accessed here.
