The government is to review the future of oversight regulator the Legal Services Board, the justice minister revealed today. The Ministry of Justice today said the review – the first since 2017 – was needed given how much the legal sector has changed in the past nine years.
Among the questions asked in the consultation attached to the review is how well the LSB holds frontline regulators to account and what evidence is there that its oversight has had a positive impact.
There is no suggestion at this stage that the LSB should be scrapped, but the review comes following a two-year period in which the organisation has taken a more prominent role in scrutinising and criticising frontline regulators such as the Solicitors Regulation Authority and BSB.
In a written ministerial statement to parliament today, justice minister Sarah Sackman said: ‘We must ensure that the current regulatory oversight arrangements are effective and do not duplicate frontline regulators’ work and initiatives. Robust and proportionate oversight is also crucial in ensuring that the sector continues to uphold the highest professional standards and safeguard public trust.’
Sackman said it was timely and appropriate to review the LSB now given the significant developments of recent years – including the introduction of a new regulatory objective - to uphold the economic crime regime - as well as concerns over professional ethics and the rapid increase in the use of lawtech.
She added: ‘This review provides an opportunity to consider the LSB’s statutory remit, its strategic clarity, governance and accountability arrangements, and the LSB’s current capabilities.
‘The review will assess how the LSB and the Ministry of Justice should work together to deliver value for money and ensure sufficient focus is maintained on the evolving priorities of legal services consumers and the wider sector.’
Richard Lloyd, the chair of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, will lead the review.
The consultation asks whether there is sufficient clarity about how the LSB’s role differs from other regulators, whether its has the capacity, skills and technology to be effective, and what its future priorities should be.
The LSB has taken a more active approach in the past two years, commissioning independent reports into the SRA’s handling of the collapses of Axiom Ince and SSB Law, and launching a review into advice provided on the conduct of litigation prior to last year’s Mazur judgment.
Last year, it said the SRA and BSB had fallen short of expected standards in their latest annual assessment, finding shortcomings in the SRA’s authorisation, supervision and enforcement processes, and criticising the BSB’s slow rate of improvement and continued failure to meet key performance targets.
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