LSB publishes response to approaches to quality consultation

17 September 2012

The LSB today publishes its response to its consultation on approaches to quality in the legal services market. This response establishes the importance of the following themes in addressing quality risks:

• • Provision and transparency of performance information to allow a greater understanding of where issues in relation to quality exist.
  • Development of improved assessment and segmentation of risks to quality in legal services through greater evidence based analysis.
  • Using an outcomes focused approach to ensure regulatory interventions drive an improvement in quality standards without hindering innovation

As a result of support expressed during the consultation we are not prescribing in detail how quality risks should be addressed by the approved regulators. Instead we have set out success criteria under the three themes above.

This approach reflects the importance of the profession, consumers and regulators all playing their part.

There are very strong linkages between this and the regulatory standards work. Where there are specific overlaps progress will be considered as part of this year’s regulatory standards exercise. In the future we will be looking for evidence of approved regulators taking action across all of the areas set out in this document and for this to be reflected in their action plans.

We have also endorsed recommendations made by the Legal Services Consumer Panel in their report on voluntary quality schemes. Our formal response to the Panel’s advice can be found here.

Chris Kenny, Chief Executive of the Legal Services Board said:

Achieving innovative high quality service to consumers is at the heart of effective modern regulation. That demands sharper identification of issues, more targeted intervention using a wide range of tools and greater transparency about the results, rather than the old approach of prescriptive blanket rules. We’re delighted that the consultation revealed broad support for that approach. We’re similarly not setting blanket rules for the Approved regulators, but we will expect them to be able to show through their work on regulatory effectiveness how they’re making progress.

We’re grateful to the Legal Services Consumer Panel for their work on this issue and, in particular, their ground-breaking work on voluntary accreditation schemes. We look forward to their continued engagement and challenge to us and ARs on the issue.

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