SRA 2026/27 Business Plan published
Building on the reforms already underway since new Chief Executive Sarah Rapson was appointed in November 2025, the plan continues with transformations designed to fix the SRA’s foundations, strengthen its operations and build new capacities. It focusses on three priority areas: delivering operational excellence, proactively identifying and addressing risk, and focusing on the biggest issues.
Key deliverables in the plan address areas such as:
- Delivering clearer, faster and more proportionate outcomes by refocusing investigations and enforcement work on the areas that best protect the public.
- Strengthening risk-based prioritisation and escalation, including through the stronger use of data and analytics.
- Establishing a proactive supervision function to undertake engagement directly with firms to identify, understand, and manage risks.
The plan also outlines how the regulator will prioritise work around issues that potentially pose a greater risk of harm to the public. Such areas include high-volume claims, safeguarding client money, governance arrangements and models within firms, the importance of professional ethics, supporting responsible adoption of AI and innovation, and reviewing and enhancing candidates’ experience of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE).
The number of misconduct reports submitted to the SRA is up 45 per cent between 2022 and 2025. The plan outlines how the regulator will make the required changes through investment in IT, better use of data and intelligence and a clearer prioritisation on issues most directly linked to consumer harm.
The plan was subject to an extensive consultation exercise earlier this year, during which there was general support for SRA’s programme. There was also valuable feedback across a range of specific proposals, which led to a number of changes to the final plan in areas such as:
- Giving extra information on planned improvements to how reports of misconduct are triaged and handled
- Governance arrangements for how the SRA will use AI and data
- Commitments to publish more evidence and data on SQE performance, accessibility and differential outcomes
Sarah Rapson, Chief Executive of the SRA, said:
‘Earlier this year, I said that the SRA required a reset. This Business Plan marks the next stage of that process. It sets out a focused programme of change to strengthen our operations, modernise our capabilities and help us move from a largely reactive regulator to one that is increasingly proactive, intelligence-led and focused on preventing harm.
‘This was one of the largest consultations the SRA has undertaken on an annual business plan. I am grateful to everyone who took the time to provide such insightful and constructive feedback. We have listened carefully to what was said and this has helped shape the final plan. Together, these changes will also help lay the foundations for our soon to be published draft 2027-2030 Corporate Strategy, which looks to establish the SRA as a modern, trusted and effective regulator for the future.’
The SRA staged an extensive consultation exercise on its draft 2026/7 Business Plan and Budget earlier in 2026. As part of this it ran a range of direct engagement with stakeholders across the legal profession, consumer representative and wider stakeholder groups. Activity included a range of direct meetings, focus groups and webinars. The consultation was also promoted publicly in the media, on social media and SRA website.
Kindly shared by Solicitors Regulation Authority image courtesy of Adobe
