Lord Ouseley's report on BME solicitors has two overriding messages for the regulator.

You may have seen media coverage of Lord Ouseley’s recent review of the disproportionately high presence of black and minority ethnic (BME) solicitors in the compliance procedures of the SRA. Some called the report ‘damning’, but if you read it (go to www.sra.org.uk/diversity), you will find it is an objective and measured piece of work, with many valuable recommendations.

I will not attempt to summarise a document of more than 20,000 words. However, for me there are two overriding messages, which the board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) wholeheartedly accepts. The first is the need to work harder to translate our commitment to equality and diversity into action in terms of our policies, procedures and day-to-day work. The second is the need to work more closely with BME solicitors to explain what we are doing and to find ways to help all solicitors to comply with the rules we make in the public interest.

Our first priority is the publication by the SRA board of a comprehensive equality and diversity strategy and a detailed plan for its implementation.

The work will be supervised by a board-level group, supported by a strengthened equality and diversity unit reporting directly to the chief executive. We are inviting comments on our strategy, and will report publicly on our progress.

Among other things, we need, through enhanced recruitment procedures, to improve the diversity of the SRA’s people – both staff, particularly at senior levels, and its board and committee members. There will be enhanced training and support for all SRA staff to ensure they understand, and are committed to, the principles of equality and diversity, so they are firmly embedded in the organisation’s values.

We need to be able to measure the effectiveness of the training. Our programme to assess the potential impact of all our policies and processes on BME solicitors and other minority groups will need to be accelerated. Monitoring and auditing will be improved, so that problems can be identified and resolved promptly. A system for dealing with complaints of discrimination has recently been introduced, and will be developed further.

A key issue for Lord Ouseley was whether BME solicitors were unfairly targeted by the SRA or the subject of excessively harsh penalties. Having reviewed 187 individual cases, Lord Ouseley said: ‘There is an inescapable conclusion that allegations of breaches were founded and penalties imposed appropriately.’ This conclusion is critical to the confidence in the SRA of both the regulated community and the public.

But the core issue remains: why do BME solicitors feature disproportionately in the work of the SRA? It seems likely that several factors are involved, some of which are complex and challenging. One factor appears to be that many BME solicitors work on their own or in very small practices, which – regardless of the ethnicity of the solicitors – are more likely to get into regulatory difficulty than bigger firms. There are no doubt other factors that also warrant further investigation and research.

The SRA must improve its understanding of the circumstances and concerns of BME solicitors. We have invited groups representing BME solicitors to work with us on this. We shall also seek to work closely with the Law Society to give solicitors in difficult circumstances the advice and information they need to avoid regulatory action – prevention is better than cure.

I am confident – indeed determined – that the SRA will go the extra mile. The SRA must demonstrate that it does everything possible to apply the rules equally, without favouritism or prejudice, to all solicitors, regardless of their ethnicity.

But, we need your help too. When this issue first hit the headlines, it was impossible to provide accurate information about the involvement of BME solicitors in regulatory matters because we did not have reliable data about either their ethnicity or the composition of the profession as a whole. There are gaping gaps in our knowledge.

I know that many people dislike being asked to provide information about themselves, particularly if they cannot see the need or are suspicious of the use to which it will be put. I sympathise. The SRA should ask for information about solicitors and their firms only when it is necessary.

But progress on this issue depends to a great extent on forming a much more accurate understanding of the composition of the profession.

We are preparing a data collection exercise, the value of which will increase with each solicitor who devotes a few moments to taking part. I urge you all to respond.

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Peter Williamson is chairman of the board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority