News release

SRA sets out its strategic priorities for next three years

20 March 2020

Following consultation with more than 500 people, we have finalised our 2020 - 2023 corporate strategy, with a focus on high professional standards and supporting innovation to help people access legal help.

We have confirmed our three high level objectives are:

• Setting and maintaining high professional standards for solicitors and firms as the public would expect and ensuring that a commitment to excellent operational service and a positive customer experience is at the heart of all it does
• Actively supporting the adoption of legal technology, and other innovation, that helps to meet the needs of the public, business community, regulated entities and the economy
• Continually building the SRA's understanding of emerging opportunities and challenges for the users of legal services, the legal sector and its role in effectively regulating it

In addition to 17 formal responses to the consultation, we spoke to more than 150 members of the public and the profession.

This included workshops with legal entrepreneurs, small businesses and consumer representative groups. We met with the elderly, people who do not speak English as a first language and young people who have been homeless or been through the criminal justice system. We also carried out a survey with more than 400 solicitors and consumer representatives.

There was broad support for our proposed objectives. Although the core objectives remain unchanged, we have made some updates to the detail around them. For example, further strengthening our commitment to focus on building new stakeholder relationships and adding a reference to environmental sustainability.

Anna Bradley, Chair of the SRA, said: "We were pleased that there was strong support for our approach, with people very positive about our focus on standards and increasing access to justice.

"When we developed our corporate strategy, we set it on a backcloth of uncertainty and change, but a pandemic was not on our list.

"The events of recent weeks have shown how uncertain the future is, and how quickly new and difficult issues can emerge. In addition to our core work, our strategy sets out our commitment to thinking ahead and looking at what may affect our sector and indeed the wider public interest, considering what we can do to help and how innovation and technology can play their part.

"We want to find new ways of working with other organisations because we think we can do more through collaboration. We are delighted that others agreed and look forward to working together in the future."

We now plan to consult on our business plan for the first time later this year.

Separately we have also published a summary of responses to our consultation on assuring advocacy standards, which closed in November. Our board will make a decision on next steps later this year.