Consultation aims to improve accountability and ensure solicitors evidence ongoing competence
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has launched a consultation on plans to strengthen its continuing competence regime, including requiring all solicitors to take part in mandatory annual ethics discussions.
The regulator stressed that its research shows most solicitors keep their knowledge and skills up to date, but said action is needed to address those who are not doing enough to remain competent.
The changes are designed to “sharpen” expectations, better drive learning and development behaviours, create a culture of ongoing discussion around ethical decision-making, and give the regulator greater assurance that all solicitors are maintaining their competence.
Under the current regime, solicitors are required to reflect on their practice, identify learning needs, and consider their ethical and professional obligations. However, they are not formally required to record their learning and development activity, although they are expected to be able to demonstrate how they have addressed any gaps.
Under the proposed new rules, solicitors would be required to formally record their learning and development needs, how those needs were identified, and how they have been addressed. They would also need to sign an annual declaration confirming compliance, supported by retained evidence.
Separately, the SRA is proposing a new requirement for solicitors to participate annually in facilitated group discussions focused on ethical duties and dilemmas. These discussions would involve at least three hours of structured engagement each year and would need to be declared as part of the practising certificate renewal process.
In addition, the regulator is seeking powers to require some or all solicitors to complete specific learning and development where concerns about competence arise, enabling a more targeted and preventative approach to regulation.
Aileen Armstrong, Executive Director – Strategy, Innovation and External Affairs, said: “The work a solicitor does can have a profound impact on individuals, families and businesses. Solicitors have to maintain their competence to deliver vital services. Following engagement with the profession and others, we are proposing strengthening the requirements in some areas. This includes new arrangements to support solicitors to navigate ethical challenges. We look forward to engaging further through consultation to ensure that we have the right rules in place.”
The move reflects growing concern within the regulator that the current, largely self-directed system is not consistently driving the behaviours needed to maintain competence across the profession. Evidence from monitoring and thematic reviews has suggested that some solicitors are not engaging in meaningful reflection or are focusing too narrowly on technical legal knowledge at the expense of ethical and professional obligations.
The consultation follows the SRA’s shift in 2016 away from a prescriptive hours-based continuing professional development model towards a more flexible, outcomes-focused approach. While this was intended to give solicitors greater autonomy, the regulator now appears to be recalibrating that framework to introduce more structure and accountability.
The requirements could also extend beyond solicitors themselves, with the SRA indicating that firms may be expected to ensure that non-authorised staff are also maintaining appropriate levels of competence, placing greater responsibility on firms to embed competence frameworks across their wider workforce.
The changes come against a backdrop of heightened scrutiny of professional standards following a series of high-profile regulatory failures in recent years, which have prompted questions about whether existing safeguards are sufficient to ensure consistent competence across the profession.
More broadly, the proposals signal a move towards a model of demonstrable competence, where solicitors are expected not only to maintain their skills but to evidence how they have done so. This reflects a wider regulatory trend towards transparency and accountability, as regulators seek greater assurance that professional obligations are being met in practice.
The consultation opened on 22 April 2026 and will run for 12 weeks, after which the SRA will decide whether to proceed with formal rule changes, subject to approval by the Legal Services Board. The proposals are expected to take effect from the 2027/28 practising year, giving firms time to adapt systems and processes.