Tuesday, 06 December 2016
LSB launches consultation on its draft 2017/18 business plan
The Legal Services Board (LSB) launches today a consultation on its draft business plan for 2017/18.This covers the third and final year of the LSB's three-year strategic plan which was adopted in March 2015.
Views are welcome from everyone with an interest in legal services and the wider legal services community.
Sir Michael Pitt, Chairman of the Legal Services Board said:
"This coming year is the final year of our current three year strategic planning period. The consultation document published today seeks your views on our draft programme of work for this last year; 2017/18.
It contains our expected programme of statutory duties, the areas where we are continuing to press for regulatory improvement, such as independence and transparency, and a small number of new themes.
These proposed projects not only contribute towards the three strategic objectives (see notes to editor's point 5), they also have another element of common purpose which is to inspire greater public trust and adherence to professional standards, elements that underpin a successful legal sector.
This we will do while continuing to reduce our own costs with further proposed cuts to our budget of £150,000 from the 2016/17 period"
ENDS
For further information, please contact the LSB's Communications Manager, Vincent McGovern (020 7271 0068).
Notes for editors:
- Further information on the draft business plan 2017/18 consultation can be found here.
- The LSB's proposed indicative budget for 2017/18 is £3,848k. This continues a downward trajectory and represents a further £150k reduction from 2016/17 and a £450k reduction from the start of our strategic planning period.
- The closing date for the consultation is Friday 17 February 2017.
- The LSB's draft strategic plan 2015-18 can be found here.
- The three strategic outcomes that the LSB is working towards are:
- breaking down regulatory barriers to competition, growth and innovation
- enabling the need for legal services to be met more effectively, and
- ensuring that regulators and the Legal Ombudsman are operating effectively and that there is a shared understanding of the legal services market. - The Legal Services Act 2007 (the Act) created the LSB as a new regulator with responsibility for overseeing the regulation of legal services in England and Wales. The new regulatory regime became active on 1 January 2010.
- The LSB oversees nine approved regulators, which in turn regulate individual legal practitioners. The approved regulators, designated under Part 1 of Schedule 4 of the 2007 Act, are the Law Society, the Bar Council, the Master of the Faculties, the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys, the Association of Costs Lawyers and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
In addition, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants are listed as approved regulators in relation only to reserved probate activities. - As at 1 April 2016, the legal profession in England and Wales comprised 145,059 solicitors, 15,288 barristers, 6,848 chartered legal executives and 5,697 other individuals operating in other areas of the legal profession such as conveyancing. The UK legal sector turnover was £32 billion per annum (2015) which is up 23% in cash terms since 2012. For more information see here.