SRA Annual assessment of ongoing competence 2024.
On the final day of July 2024, only a few short weeks ago, the regulator published the above report, which can leave individual lawyers and indeed COLPs in no doubt that the spotlight is still firmly on whether skills and knowledge are being maintained. For the SRA, under pressure from the Legal Services Board, it is of course all about ensuring the quality of legal services and the confidence and trust of the consumer in the profession.
And this is absolutely about the firm providing supervision and guidance, as much as the individual lawyers identifying needs and maintaining knowledge – “Requiring solicitors in our Code of Conduct for solicitors to maintain their competence. Firms we regulate are also required in our Code of Conduct for firms to make sure solicitors they employ keep their knowledge and skills up to date.”
Each year solicitors, when renewing their practicing certificate, must declare they have ‘reflected on their practice and addressed any learning and development needs. Firms will also be monitored to ensure they are meeting their competence requirements.
How does the SRA assess ongoing competence?
The assessment for 2024 is the second such annual look at the profession in this arena. It is made up largely by consumer complaints/reports, findings from the SRA’s own thematic reviews and training record reviews, feedback from stakeholders and representative bodies the regulator has engaged with. Quite obviously the assessment needs to be taken seriously, particularly as there is also evidence based on wider SRA regulatory activities, which includes their horizon scanning programme uninitiated to explore emerging trends and developments. The number of reports, 11,174 received, increased by over a1000 from 1st January 2023 to the 31st of December.
Some worrying findings.
Whilst in many areas the report found improvements on 2023, in areas such as conveyancing and immigration, there were other areas where there had been increased complaints and therefore concern. The SRA observed - ‘Using this data, and information from our wider work, we identified Family and Landlord and Tenant law as areas where we want to explore in more detail if and how solicitors practising in these areas are maintaining their competence.’ In fact, complaints in the family law area were up 25% on the previous year.
The report also identified wider challenges that solicitors are facing to meet their obligation to maintain confidence – ‘This included some solicitors only focusing their learning and development on maintaining technical legal knowledge.’
SRA Monitoring.
The regulator has left little how seriously they are taking this issue and the report details numerous ways in which they will be monitoring the profession, and this will include checks on how firms, primarily COLPs are organising training for their teams and supervising their competence.
For individuals, the SRA will be reviewing training records provided to check whether solicitors are carrying out learning and development, how they are doing so and whether they are demonstrating their requirement to be regularly reflecting on their L&D needs. They will also be running spot checks made after solicitors renew their practising certificates.
In short, firms and individuals need to be taking this very seriously and placing ongoing competency at the core of their plans.
How Matrix Capital can help.
The SRA has announced a particular focus on the family law area, citing that incompetence and mistakes as a result in this area van have devastating consequences. The regulator also, correctly in our view, observed ‘that consumers accessing such services are often more vulnerable because the legal issues involved can be complex, emotional and highly stressful.’
At Matrix Capital, not only do we have the appropriate qualifications to deal with family matters, including separation and divorce, from the financial perspective, we have for a long time now chosen to specialise in working with and supporting clients in vulnerable circumstances. Consequently, we would very much like to offer our assistance with not only identifying learning and development needs in the non-legal aspects in this area, but also acting as a training partner.
The SRA has noted that it is often the ongoing competence in the areas complementing the directly legal advice that get overlooked and it is here Matrix Capital can assist. Whether it be how to utilise cash-flow forecasting alongside divorce, how to identify and mould your support for clients in vulnerable circumstances, or perhaps more simply how financial planning can and should work alongside your legal services, we are here to support you and your clients.
We would be delighted to sit down with you individually or with the Compliance Officer for Legal Practice to discuss how we can collaborate with you to complement your own training plans and enhance them. We have a full programme of up-to-date training and support modules, available on request.
Comments