I was surprised to read your item about the Law Society's review of regulation, and the reported comments of the Society's chief executive, Desmond Hudson (see [2008] Gazette, 9 October, 1). The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) had been unaware of the Society's plans until last week and did not know that they would be announced in the Gazette.

The SRA and the Law Society meet and exchange views and information on a very regular basis. It is disappointing, four years into the Clementi era, to find the Law Society launching a review of regulation without consulting the regulator which it established.

Since its establishment, the SRA has been working on an ambitious programme to reform the regulatory structures which we inherited, particularly in the fields of legal education and professional development, and the regulation of firms. Our aim is to provide a coordinated approach to ensuring that solicitors are helped to achieve and maintain high standards of professional competence. We have also been laying the necessary groundwork for firm-based regulation under the provisions of the Legal Services Act 2007.

In addition, we have introduced new processes to support a risk-based approach to compliance, have started work with the City firms on the most appropriate means of regulating their kinds of practice, and have undertaken research to identify the views and needs of consumers of solicitors’ services. We have published some 24 consultations on our reforms and have adjusted many of our proposals in the light of comments from the profession and the public.

I have confirmed to The Law Society that we will contribute to the review. However, the Society's handling of this matter has risked confusion between regulatory and representative interests. It was precisely this kind of confusion which the SRA was established to avoid and which the Legal Services Act is designed to prevent.

If the distinction between the representative interests of the Law Society and regulatory responsibilities is not clearly maintained, public confidence in the regulation of solicitors – and therefore the Law Society's role – will be undermined.

Peter Williamson,Chair, SRA board