Closed Consultation
Proposals for a review of professional accreditation schemes
16 April 2009
The consultation period ended on 25 January 2008.
A report on responses to this consultation was considered by the SRA's Education and Training Committee on 29 April 2008.
Download the committee paper of 29 April 2008 (DOC 45 pages, 410K).
The information below is for reference purposes only.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is proposing to develop a strategic framework for the development and operation of its accreditation schemes and to review its current schemes in line with that strategy. On 24 October 2007, we published a consultation paper seeking views on the key issues and principles that will form the basis of the strategic framework.
The paper sets out the background to the Law Society's (and, now, the SRA's) approach to accreditation schemes. It also outlines the regulatory context within which the SRA now operates and the proposals are drafted. The objectives, scope and key underlying principles that will form the basis of the planned review are described. The review will deal with our current accreditation schemes and exclude the development of new schemes, which instead will be considered as part of a longer term review of solicitors' quality assurance.
In summary, the proposals are that
- a) for the purposes of this review, the SRA retains its current non-compulsory approach to accreditation schemes but that the question of voluntary or compulsory schemes should be considered as part of the proposed longer term review of the quality assurance of solicitors;
- b) the SRA should operate accreditation schemes on the basis of proportionality and the avoidance of unnecessary barriers to competition. Primarily, accreditation should be supported by the SRA in areas of law where there is a case for protection of vulnerable clients in the public interest and support for an efficient justice system. Consideration will also be given, where appropriate, to schemes which facilitate the requirements of procurers with monopsony power (i.e. to ensure quality/competence on behalf of end clients in situations where there is monopoly purchasing power by organisations, e.g. the Legal Services Commission);
- c) all schemes run by the SRA should be based on a clear set of competence standards against which applicants will be assessed. The standards will be set at the level of "competent" practitioner; the SRA should not normally be concerned with the setting of higher level criteria for accreditation schemes. There may be possible exceptions for more complex areas of practice, such as child protection work within the wider family law discipline;
- d) the SRA's role in accreditation schemes, as regulator, should be to set the standards for schemes and to validate other organisations to provide objective assessments against these standards. The SRA will not be prescriptive about the methods and formats of assessments but will implement a common framework of assessment standards against which assessing organisations will be monitored for compliance and consistency by the SRA;
- e) practitioners who are accredited on all schemes should be subject to re-accreditation after a fixed period of time. The SRA will implement a common approach to re-accreditation, which will be based on an assessment by a third party organisation of practitioners' up-to-date knowledge in the particular area of law.