Sole practitioners should no longer be required to have their practising certificate endorsed every year, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has proposed, publishing a consultation on the matter this week.

Instead, the SRA has proposed that sole practitioner firms will be indefinitely authorised from 31 March 2012.

The move will ensure that sole practitioners are subject to the same authorisation and regulatory processes as other firms, including alternative business structures, once the SRA introduces its new outcomes-focused regulation regime.

Under the plans, if regulatory action were taken against a sole practitioner firm, it would be taken against the firm’s authorisation rather than the individual’s practising certificate endorsement.

SRA chief executive Antony Townsend said: ‘These proposals are designed to be cost-neutral for sole practitioners, and will simplify the system of regulation to the benefit of everyone. We welcome comments on this consultation, as part of our wider engagement with law firms as we introduce outcomes-focused, risk-based regulation.’

The consultation, Sole practice: modernising authorisation, sets out a proposed order to amend the Administration of Justice Act 1985 and the Solicitors Act 1974, so that sole practitioners will become a category of ‘recognised body’. It closes on 8 March 2011.

The consultation is part of the SRA’s implementation of outcomes-focused regulation. The SRA will review the consultation responses and then discuss them with the Legal Services Board, which will decide whether to recommend the order.