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As usual, the SRA consultation paper finds no real problem and proposes onerous requirements anyway. It says:

"We want consumers to be satisfied with the service they receive from those we regulate, and we know the majority of those consumers are. The Legal Services Consumer Panel's (LSCP) Tracker Survey found that satisfaction with the service provided by legal service providers was at its highest in 2024, at 87 per cent."

and

"In 2024, firms told us that 82 per cent of complaints were resolved at first-tier to the satisfaction of the client – which is the highest reported since 2012 when we started collecting this data."

and

"Our recent survey of solicitors and firms found that 96 per cent are meeting our requirement and providing information about how to complain in writing at the time of engagement"

The only justification for change is here:

"LeO found that 46 per cent of its complainants in 2023/24 experienced poor complaints handling, highlighting issues such as inconsistent or complex complaints processes or defensive attitudes when handling complaints."

And yet the obvious points are (1) LeO have had much less work than they originally thought they would and (2) the people who complain to LeO are, pretty obviously, aware of their rights.

What is it with these infernal regulators? The SRA sees a profession of 10,000 firms performing well, scoring high satisfaction rates and dealing with complaints well when they do arise and says "well, we obviously need to impose changes". It must be nice to have nothing better to do.