Hundreds of firms are still failing to comply fully with Solicitors Regulation Authority transparency rules – which only a minority of practitioners believe are good for consumers – according to an independent report hailed by the SRA as proving the success of the scheme.
A Year Three evaluation of SRA Transparency Rules, carried out by independent consultancy Economic Insight Limited, found that only 42% of firms claimed to be publishing all the information required by the regulator.
However when asked if they were complying with individual aspects, 75% said they were displaying price and service information; 88% the SRA’s clickable logo; 88% details of complaints procedures and 76% details of how to complain to the SRA or legal ombudsman.
Despite these low declarations of compliance, the SRA said the research showed that its transparency regime, introduced in 2019, had been a success. The study found that 50% of individuals and 60% of small and medium sized businesses that had recently engaged with a legal services provider reported comparing price and service information before selecting a provider. Meanwhile 55% of individuals and 61% of SMEs who compared costs and services of different legal services providers found it easy to do so using information available online.
Paul Philip, SRA chief executive, said: ‘We introduced the transparency rules because all the evidence showed neither the public nor small businesses had the information they needed. This review shows that’s now changing, and we want to see that progress continue, increasing access to justice and boosting competition across the whole of the legal market.’
Firms’ responses showed that some parts of the rules, especially those on price and service information, ‘could benefit from increased clarity which could lead to improvements in compliance’, the SRA said. Suggestions from firms included clarity on how cost information should be set out and more examples of best practice and templates.
The SRA said it is continuing work to check compliance levels, offering support to firms where improvements need to be made, but taking action where they are wilfully failing to adhere. Actions include fixed penalty fines of £750 for first offences of failure to publish information and £1,500 for subsequent breaches.
Future plans could also include additions to the transparency requirements, the SRA said.
