SRA told to butt out of voluntary accreditation schemes

Voluntary accreditation schemes should not be run by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the Law Society says.

In its response to the SRA’s consultation on the issue, the society says best practice schemes should be run by solicitors themselves through their representative body or practitioner groups, which are better placed to market such services effectively.

It says: “We believe that a regulator’s role is to set minimum standards in order to practise. Voluntary accreditation schemes aim to demonstrate additional expertise beyond such minimum standards.

“If a regulator takes responsibility for anything above the minimum standard, there is a risk that the regulator will be distracted from its core functions and solicitors might confuse ‘adding better value’ initiatives with the mandatory functions of the regulator.”

Any schemes, it says, which do not set a compulsory minimum standard of competence for those wishing to undertake an area of work fall outside the core functions of a regulatory body, and therefore fall outside better regulation principles. It says the SRA should concentrate on ensuring that solicitors reach a threshold of competence across all areas of practice through appropriate education and training, and by developing and enforcing a regulatory regime.

It adds: “Where voluntary schemes are valuable in helping solicitors demonstrate additional expertise then solicitors themselves, through their professional body or practitioner groups, should be responsible for operating them. Requiring the profession to find its own ways of achieving required outcomes and develop solutions that best meet the environment they operate in is good regulatory practice.”