No need for changes to legal services regulatory bodies, says Vara

The Government has ruled out making any changes to the legal services regulatory framework after finding that there is “no consensus on a longer term vision for regulation”.

In a written ministerial statement, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, Shailesh Vara, said that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had considered the responses it had received on the matter after launching a call for evidence on 5 June last year.

“The call for evidence did not reveal any options for government to reduce regulatory burdens on legal service practitioners, or to simplify the regulatory framework, that did not entail changes to primary legislation,” wrote Vara.

“In light of the above, the Government has decided not to take forward any changes to the statutory framework at this time.”

Vara did say however, that the Government was committed to both reducing regulatory burdens on the legal sector, and promoting growth in the legal services market.

“We intend to impress upon the regulators the need to continue, and accelerate, their efforts to reduce unnecessary burdens on providers, including unnecessary barriers to entry, as rapidly as possible and to make clear progress in this over the coming months.

“We will therefore write to the Legal Services Board, the Approved Regulators and regulators, expressing this strong desire to quickly take forward work to reduce regulatory burdens for legal service practitioners,” he added.

Mark Dugdale