The Legal Services Board (LSB) has today launched a consultation on its draft business plan and budget for 2023/24 to drive forward its ambition to deliver a legal services market that better meets society’s needs.
Covering the third year of their Reshaping Legal Services strategy, the plan sets out our planned work for April 2023 to March 2024. The proposed activity programme claims to build on LSB’s continuing work to address the priority areas identified in the strategy – fairer outcomes, stronger confidence and better services – while responding to emerging developments in the sector as well as an evolving economic outlook.
In addition to their statutory functions, the plan highlights work in key areas such as:
- implementing the LSB’s revised regulatory performance framework and new policy statements on consumer empowerment and ongoing competence
- advancing their equality, diversity and inclusion work, so that they can better understand existing regulatory interventions, including how to address counter-inclusive practices
- working collaboratively to explore how regulation can best support the fundamental principle of the rule of law and high standards of professional ethics in the legal services sector
- reviewing regulators’ arrangements for ensuring that disciplinary and enforcement processes are fair and consistent
- developing a toolkit for regulators on developing arrangements for financial protections, to support consumers and legal professionals as the PII market hardens.
Proposed new workstreams for 2023/24 include:
- Market surveillance: Through increased horizon scanning, they will aim to develop a better understanding of the risks and issues facing the sector and how they may impact on delivery of the strategy.
- Consumer vulnerability: Building on their consumer research published earlier this year, we will develop our understanding of best practice across the sector and agree principles on how to support consumers in vulnerable circumstances.
Helen Phillips, Chair of the Legal Services Board, said:
“Next year we will continue making progress on our ambition to reshape legal services. The world is a different place now to what it was when we developed our strategy only two years ago, and it is more important than ever that the sector works together to deliver fairer outcomes, stronger confidence, and better services for consumers.”
The draft business plan also contains details of the LSB’s planned budget for 2023-24. They are consulting on a 9.1% increase to the budget resulting in a £4.679m total budget (a 2% decrease in real terms). This proposed budget will supposedly allow the LSB to deliver their business plan, bringing benefits to the public at a time when need for legal services is only likely to grow.
The LSB will be hosting an online event on Wednesday 18 January, 3.30-5pm, to discuss the draft business plan and budget in more detail. Book your place online.
The consultation closes at 5.00pm on Friday 3 February 2023.
