Oversight regulator the Legal Services Board is proposing a 14% increase in its annual budget.

Papers released ahead of tomorrow’s monthly board meeting show that the provisional budget for 2024/25 has been set at £5.33m – an increase of £650,000 on the current year.

The LSB is funded entirely by regulated members of the legal profession. Based on the 191,162 authorised individuals, the rise would mean lawyers being required to pay £27.88 each to fund the LSB next year.

The organisation said that it was mindful of the economic context and pressures on parts of the legal sector, but that it was vital that legal services users and the public can rely on high standards of regulation.

The LSB said it will strengthen its ‘direct oversight’ of regulators’ performance in the next year and increase focus on how they are performing.

It added: ‘This will include stepping up our ongoing monitoring and increasing our capacity to carry out reviews and investigations, supporting regulators to deliver their obligations effectively; as well as building a better understanding of risk and detriment across the regulated sector through our enhanced market surveillance and horizon scanning approach.

‘This will require the increased resource proposed in this paper and reflects the importance we attach to regulatory performance and to our ability to detect and respond to detriment and harm to users of legal services wherever it may occur.’

The LSB will also continue to implement its 10-year strategy, published in 2021, which aims to 'dismantle barriers to a diverse and inclusive profession and ensure high quality legal services and strong professional ethics'.

An eight-week consultation on the budget increase will begin in January ahead of a final business plan and budget being presented for approval in March.

 

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