PC renewal deadline extended as SRA struggles
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has extended the deadline for practising certificate renewal to the end of February for all solicitors.
The first renewals were due to be completed by Monday but delays caused by the new online mySRA system meant many solicitors had not been able to finish the process. Earlier this week it was confirmed more than a third of practitioners had yet to even start the renewal process, with just 14% of renewals completed.
In a statement today, the SRA said it was receiving a large volume of calls to its contact centre and urged those with queries to look for information on the website before ringing.
The statement added: ‘The renewals process will not close before the end of February to give the profession more time to renew their practising certificates.
‘This applies to all those renewing. It is important, however, that you complete your renewal as soon as you can.’ PCs, registrations for registered European lawyers and registered foreign lawyers, firm recognitions and sole practitioner authorisations will remain valid in the meantime.
The PCs will not be sent in the post but will instead be stored in mySRA as a portable document that can be printed.
Antony Townsend, chief executive of the SRA, commented: 'We are aware that some of you, including in the larger firms, have faced technical difficulties which, coupled with a high demand for telephone support, has caused delays to your registration. It makes sense to leave the renewals process open for a while longer. It will not close before the end of February.
'No one will be penalised for not completing their renewal while the system remains open, but we would ask you to assist us by renewing as soon as possible. We're very grateful to all those who have already renewed.
'This is the first year of operation of a new system which will transform the way in which we deliver services to the profession and regulated individuals. The long-term benefits of mySRA are numerous, but I know this has been an unsatisfactory process for some, so I repeat my earlier apology and thank you for persevering with the online system as we refine it.'
Law Society chief executive Des Hudson said: ‘I am sorry that the SRA’s new process hasn’t worked as well as they or we would have liked. It is clear that this year’s PC renewal system - online for the first time - has suffered technical problems which have led to significant frustration and delays for some solicitors and firms. In the last few weeks I and my colleagues have spoken to dozens of members about their experiences with the system. We have relayed these concerns as they have emerged to the SRA and I am pleased that they have acknowledged problems with the system and extended the renewal deadline.
‘In addition, I have written to local law societies, offering support from our regional managers for those firms with the most intractable issues. The SRA’s own relationship management team are also available to help.’
Comments
What an example....
Would have trouble organising a drinks party in a brewery....
sigh....
to be even handed to our lords and masters we should consider the highly likely situation that they would not even be able to find said brewery so the problem in your scenario would not arise......
sigh.....
Focus on the outcome ...
The whole new online system is nothing but a sorry mess and is very far from fit for purpose. The best part of it is that I got to pay over 50% more to the SRA than last year. Good work if you can get it.
The SRA is a disgrace and it must be questioned whether it is viable for it to continue to regulate the profession. But who regulates the regulator?
The spectre of anarchy
So, Anarchy visits the legal profession not in the form of Molotov-wielding hoodies (who probably have not actually heard of Proudhon, Bakunin et al, more`s the pity ) but an IT failure. Can we expect tribunals to be set up for the thousands who unwittingly risk practising uncertificated ? It would certainly be a money-spinner-(all that matters nowadays, after all).
So the SRA wants US to assist
So the SRA wants US to assist IT when it is in trouble. Try asking the SRA for help when we're in trouble!
Townsend should resign-but won't because the money's too good.
Well
Perhaps the profession should intervene in the SRA, appoint an agent to sort it out and distribute its caseload to others.
SRA - renewals
i like that idea
Not fit for purpose
Not fit for purpose
It is good to extend
It is good to extend submission deadlines so that those can get a proper chance to apply. I hope that everyone will go ahead and submit so that they don't miss out this time. Thanks for the info.
There are things that people should do on time but really changing is not always better and if they don't and there are extensions given then they should be grateful and get things in by the new deadline.
Hits mean revenue
Not on this site they don't. This is the website of the Law Society Gazette, which is the magazine published by the Law Society. It's not a publication which relies solely upon advertising or voluntary subscriptions for its survival - it is funded by solicitors, whether they like it or not. The problem with the Gazette is that it is neither one thing nor the other. It's not a proper law journal and contains very few articles which could be described as learned: if you want that sort of thing, you buy the New Law Journal or the Solicitors Journal or one or more of the specialist heavyweight journals. As a legal newspaper, it falls down because it tends not to question the pronouncements of either the Law Society or the SRA and relies far too much on other people's press releases (and far too little on detailed investigative journalism). It's really a missed opportunity on the part of the Law Society, which is an organisation which now seems not know whether it should be acting as a trade union, a protector of the public's interests or a quasi-regulator. The most interesting thing about this online version of the Gazette is the level of solicitors' dissatisfaction (with both the Society and the SRA) which permeates the comments underneath the articles.
Democracy in the Law Society
Democracy in the Law Society was abolished when the President once again became a beneficiary of "Buggins turn"-so of course it is totally unrepresentative.
The experience of electing the President was obviously far too dangerous! We now just have apparatchiks who do as they are told by anyone but the profession.
If it ain't broke
Why on earth the Law Society had to change a system that was logical and sensible into the complete shambles we now have passes understanding. Renewals used to be easily done in bulk by the firm or organisation. Now we have an atomised and confused system that does not work-must be costing LS plenty with the delays.
Surely you mean it will be
Surely you mean it will be costing solicitors-thats where the LS gets its money.
Like most IT projects run by bureaucracies, this has been totally mishandled.
renewals
I received an email from the SRA advising that my practising certificate was now available to download in 'My Documents' in mySRA. Happy Days. I opened My Documents and guess what? nothing there of course
MySRA - Illogical, Unhelpful and Annoying
I battled for 3 hours today to complete my online registration with the SRA. For nearly 20 years I have been completing my forms with care and attention but today I nearly gave up! Who designed this system? Have they got any idea how illogical it is? Does it really need to be that complicated to go from A-Z on renewing a solicitor's entry to ensure he or she gets their Practising Certificate.
I particularly didn't like the bit about mySRA and then my firm's SRA - now splitting the two like that would have made more sense to me!
Nor did I like the secret word nonsense - or the fact when I rang the dedicated number I was greeted with a message that the people manning the phones could only deal with certain enquiries and I shouldn't expect them to deal with any more than that. When I asked the chap on the end of the phone to transfer me to another department I was told that couldn't be done and I would have t ring in again and press 2. Well OK I can do that - but that smacks to me of a professional body treating the people who pay for it with a measure of contempt. Where's the support, and the help?
And how much has all this faffing around cost the Law Society and the SRA? I guess we all know whose paying for it!
.
Practising certificate
Having finally successfully completed the application and paid I have been advised that my PC is available to download. However, as indicated in a previous message, NOTHING!
Flabbergasted !
SRA
The electronic system is the SRAs great idea. It will save the SRA time and money, if and when it works properly.
The whole system is massively
The whole system is massively over-engineered.
The ludicrously lengthy security steps you need to go through just to access the system is sooooo depressing and almost designed to make you give up at the first hurdle.
Massive secuirty for online banking - yes.
To register for MySRA - I don't think many Eastern European fraudsters are queing up to pay my practising certificate fees...!
Quite clearly no-one in any authority gave the sytem a proper trial run, or else they would have ditched 90% of the security nonsense.
LOL
LOL
Renewal of PCs
This is a shambles! The hours I have spent trying to use this fatally flawed system are unbelievable. The Helpline is permanently engaged. Suggest they practise what they preach re
focusing on outcome. Does anyone have a voice or the power to regulate them? How many months of this chaos have we endured to date?
Why aren't the SRA updating their website?
"In a statement today, the SRA said it was receiving a large volume of calls to its contact centre and urged those with queries to look for information on the website before ringing."
This advice is more than a little irritating. I simply don't understand why the SRA are not regularly updating the "troubleshooting" page of their website. I have had cause to ring them with a number of queries (including the issue of no certificate being available mentioned by others) and yet none of the issues I have raised have found their way on to the site. Each time I have called I have been told that my queries are "known" issues, so why not publish them on the site and spare others a lengthy wait on hold to the SRA to get basic information?
New online applications for PC's
Not impressed at all with this over complicated system.
May be a simple 5 step guide should have been provided starting with - Step 1- Log in by doing X, Step 2 Check information already on the form
and include an easy way of making changes and ending with a declaration saying the information on the form has been checked, this is amount to be paid and here is your receipt and you can print off a copy of the form for your records.
I did not find the video helpful and could not get through to the contact centre sorry to say.
PC RENEWAL
Is The Law Society 'fit for purpose' What is happening while the Profession is being slowly dismembered limb by limb.
PC Renewals
After all that slog confirming to the SRA information that the SRA already have I still can't submit the wretched document on e-page 19 (NINETEEN, I ask you!). I even remembered my password and secret word. Can't even nominate myself as COLP and COFA (as far as I can make out).....
PC certificate! Argh!
As other comments have already said, long process to be informed my application has been sucessful and follow the link! Hey presto. Nothing there. Tried to ring the SRA to be told that they are experiencing a high volume of calls (surprised?) and that the wait for the next operator would be 25 minutes! I think not...
Deadline extended - well that's a relief
So touched that the SRA still want our help - after we've clogged up their failing (long awaited) IT system and helplines.
It's a very generous gesture to keep the renewal process running until the end of February and to say that they won't penalise us for not renewing while the system is still running.
Let's hope they find time to reply to my query on why the system keeps going blank everytime I get to the payment page.....maybe even find a way to take my money....then I can truly feel part of the transformation in service delivery of which their CEO speaks.
Somehow though I don't think it's a model Amazon will be following.....