Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) on steps to help reduce investigation times by the SRA.

The legal profession in England and Wales, together with its regulators, operates independently of government. The responsibility of regulating the sector sits with approved regulators, overseen by the Legal Services Board (LSB). This framework is set out in the Legal Services Act 2007.  The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is responsible for regulating the professional conduct of solicitors and Law firms in England and Wales.

As part of its role, the SRA investigates consumers’ complaints when allegations of solicitor misconduct are made. It has a number of disciplinary powers, including the power to issue fines and refer an individual to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT), which can suspend or strike a solicitor off the roll. If someone wishes to complain about the conduct of a solicitor to the SRA, they can do so via the following link: https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.

The SRA aims to complete 93% of investigations within 12 months, 95% within 18 months and 98% within 24 months. A small number of more complex investigations, especially those leading to prosecution before the SDT, may take longer. The SRA have confirmed that they are generally meeting or exceeding these targets.  The SRA has seen a rise in reports of solicitors’ misconduct and is taking steps to manage this increase though increasing resource in its investigation teams. It is also continuing to seek improvements in both the quality and timeliness of its investigation work.

Given the independence of the regulators, it would not be appropriate for the Ministry of Justice to interfere with the process of the SRA’s investigations. However, the Ministry of Justice maintains regular dialogue with the legal regulators in respect of their statutory functions. This ensures that regulatory independence is respected while also supporting the wider objective of protecting consumers and maintaining public confidence in the justice system. Within this context, I will raise whether investigation timeframes could be made more ambitious at my next meeting with the SRA.