Providing 'consumers and businesses with accessible and affordable alternatives to court proceedings' is the aim of the latest technology-focused initiative by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to receive government funding. 

The regulator has been awarded £119,691 from the latest round of the business department’s 'Regulators Pioneer Fund' to explore ways to increase the use of technology-enabled dispute resolution. It will work with the Access to Justice Foundation and the Law Society on the project, which is to start in September 2023. 'The SRA will also seek to work collaboratively with the Law Council of Wales,' the announcement stated. 

Previous pioneer fund grants paid for the SRA’s Legal Access Challenge competition and to create a network where regulators, expert research institutions and local government can work together to improve legal access within local communities. 

Announcing the latest project, Paul Philip, chief executive, said: ‘We welcome this important opportunity to work with our partners to support people in resolving their legal issues without having to use the courts. This has the potential to make a real difference for individual consumers, saving them time and money, as well as relieving pressure on the court system, which benefits the wider community.’

The project will work with consumers and public representative groups to explore the potential barriers and benefits to using dispute resolution, in particular via digital and online platforms. This will include sharing and developing best practice which demonstrates how dispute resolution can deliver outcomes just as fairly and positively as any matter that goes to court.

The SRA’s award is one of 24 grants totalling £12m announced by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in the third round of the pioneer fund which was set up in 2018. Other winners include the Office for Nuclear Regulation which receives £171,000 to set up a regulatory sandbox on artificial intelligence in the nuclear sector and Coventry City Council, which will spend £268,000 on better local regulation to unlock the value of urban drones. 

 

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