The Law Society has responded to the SRA's consultation on its 'red tape' initiative, which aims to remove unnecessary regulations and simplify processes.
We are encouraged by the intention behind this initiative, particularly the SRA's firm commitment to regularly reviewing its regulatory processes and procedures. We have stressed that this commitment should work in tandem with an internal review of how the SRA organises itself in the context of an outcomes-focused regulatory regime.
We are aware of several areas where bureaucratic processes hinder the business of practices and have highlighted these in our response. Key areas include:
- the need for the SRA to provide clarity around the wording on complaints in chapter 1 of the SRA Code of Conduct
- the unpaid client account limit, set out in the Accounts Rules, needs to be reassessed as a £50 de minimis imposes significant burdens on practices
We have also noted that rule 8.7 of the Authorisation Rules requires practices to submit an annual information report to the SRA. We believe the SRA should commit to:
- carrying out a cost/benefit analysis of any data request
- only requiring practices to submit information which it cannot obtain from elsewhere at a lower cost
- where possible, providing guidance 12 months in advance on what data will be required by the SRA as part of the annual information report
Read our full response to the consultation