Chair's Board Update May 2025

CRL’s May Board meeting on 16 May was preceded by a strategy session, where we considered future challenges on the horizon, and how best we can respond to promote the interests of consumers, and those we regulate. The minutes will be published on our website in the usual way.  Meeting highlights included:

• Equality Diversity and Inclusion: we reaffirmed our commitment to fair access for all those working in the legal services sector, as well as those who use legal services. Joined by colleagues from CILEX, we discussed progress made since our first Strategy was published three years ago, and what should be our new priorities. We agreed that good progress had been made on data gathering, but there was much more to do to influence the broader legal sector culture, to promote progression, and recognition of CILEX qualifications. We will now pull together a new strategy setting out our workplan for the next three years with a view to publication this Summer.
• Professional Ethics: we debated our response to the LSB’s proposed Statement of Policy which is out for consultation until 29 May. We recognised the importance of this work, but also that any new initiative needs to be joined-up and proportionate. In this respect we are concerned at the LSB’s failure to produce a full Cost Impact Assessment. We agreed we would look carefully at whether it would be timely to review our Code of Conduct and CPD offer.
• Consumers: consumer empowerment is one of our key strategic objectives, and we conducted a self-assessment of how we are doing on the good practice indicators set out in research commissioned by the Legal Services Consumer Panel. In general, we have a good story to tell but agreed some additional actions on engaging consumers and helping those most vulnerable.
• Finance: We signed off the Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2024 following a clean bill of health from our auditors and will now publish these before the Summer. We also had a full discussion of our budget resourcing strategy for 2026 as part of setting next year’s Practising Certificate Fee. We will consult formally on this as usual in July.
• Performance: we agreed an action plan in response to the LSB’s recent Regulatory Performance Assessment. This will include discussions with the CRL’s regulated entities later in the year on the future of the Compensation Fund, a new Stakeholder Survey, and further engagement with consumers to inform our policy work.

Our next full Board meeting is on 15 July 2025. As always if you want to know more, please look at our website, read our Board papers or get in touch.  If you would like to know more, please access our website, read our Board papers or contact us.