The Solicitors Regulation Authority has reiterated its new set of priorities on the eve of a year heralded as potentially transformative.
The regulator, which has faced a barrage of criticism in recent years over its handling of Axiom Ince and PM Law, is also dealing with unprecedented levels of complaints about solicitors, its 2026/27 business plan reveals. Between November 2022 and October 2025, the number of misconduct reports assessed rose by 45% from 11,378 to 16,499.
There is also enormous pressure on the compensation fund. As of 5 August 2026, the SRA had dealt with 539 applications from clients of Yorkshire firm PM Law to the compensation fund and paid out £15.6m.
A total of 55 interventions were carried out by the SRA to close down firms from November 2025 to August 2026, compared with 42 in the full 2024/25 business year.
Chief executive Sarah Rapson, who joined a year ago, has said she wants to fix the SRA’s foundations, strengthen its operations and build new capacity.
As previously outlined, this transformation programme will incur significantly higher costs that will largely be met by increased contributions from the profession.
The annual income from practising fees for 2026/27 will rise by 29% to £111.5m. The SRA will collect £240 from each individual practising certificate fee in the next year – up from £190. Total contributions to the compensation fund will rise from £26m to £46.3m. Individual contributions will increase from £70 to £170 and for firms from £1,950 to £2,170.
Introducing the 2026/27 plan today, Rapson said the SRA had listened to feedback from the profession and would start to establish the organisation as a modern, trusted and effective regulator.
‘Earlier this year, I said that the SRA required a reset. This business plan marks the next stage of that process,’ she said. ‘It sets out a focused programme of change to strengthen our operations, modernise our capabilities and help us move from a largely reactive regulator to one that is increasingly proactive, intelligence-led and focused on preventing harm.’
The SRA said its priorities will be protecting consumers involved with high volume consumer claims, safeguarding client money, a focus on professional ethics and acting on alleged misconduct relating to the Post Office Horizon scandal, supporting responsible innovation, and continuing to enhance the SQE.
Further work on evaluating transparency rules and on quality indicators and digital comparison tools will be paused - but may be included in a longer term strategy.
No comments yet