Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will add the Professional Paralegal Register to the statutory list of approved regulators under the Legal Services Act 2007.

The Government values the role paralegals play.

The legal profession in England and Wales is independent of Government, and under the Legal Services Act 2007, only a person authorised by an approved regulator may provide a reserved legal activity.

The 2007 Act provides the powers for the Legal Services Board to make recommendations to government for bodies to be designated as approved regulators, and it has not made a recommendation in respect of the Professional Paralegal Register. The government has no plans to make such a designation without having had a recommendation.

My department has not had any recent discussions with representatives of paralegals about either their approach to sector self-regulation or the possibility of the Professional Paralegal Register being designated as an approved regulator under the Legal Services Act 2007.