Our third full Board meeting of the year took place online on 9 July. Here are a few of the highlights. Full minutes will be published on our website in the usual way.
Strategy 2025-7: we considered the very useful feedback we had received from the two webinars we held in early July on our new three-year strategy. We are very pleased by the broad support for the proposed mission and core activities, and now intend to circulate a consultation survey by the end of the month with a view to publication of the final Strategy in November.
Future Regulatory Arrangements: The Board discussed the latest position. We noted that the SRA Board’s recent decision to press on with the proposals for redelegation as well as the significant amendments CILEX is making to its Royal Charter. The CRL Board reaffirmed its position, informed by legal advice, that it considers the proposals as unlawful and would lessen consumer protection. We were reassured that CRL is not alone in raising concerns. We noted the strong opposition to the proposals by the Law Society, the scepticism of the Justice Select Committee and the comments from the Legal Services Consumer Panel that there was insufficient evidence of consumer benefits. We also reflected on the outcome of our consultation last year and feedback from our recent strategy webinars which indicate a significant number of CILEX members do not want to change regulator. The CRL Board will now consider its options carefully before deciding what action to take.
Operational Performance: we reviewed our operational performance for the first quarter and were pleased to see continued improvement across the board. We welcomed for instance an 82% reduction in the number of Fellows not recording their CPD. We also received a report from the Director of Regulation on improvements to be made following a review of enforcement processes. We agreed to monitor this area closely.
Transparency: we approved our annual report for 2023 and noted a series of reports covering admissions and licensing, investigations and appeals, strategic risk and education and training. All of these reports will be published on our website. The Board formally expressed its thanks to the many CILEX professionals and lay members who support us in our work. We also received an update on the recent Transparency consultation and were pleased to see broad support for our proposals. We will now make a formal application to the LSB.
Practising Certificate Fee: The Board received an update on the planned budget for 2025. We agreed in principle the draft PCF for next year and will consult on this shortly prior to making a formal application to the Legal Services Board in the autumn.
Our next planned Board catch-up is on 2 September with our next full meeting on 25 September.
If you would like to know more, please access the CRL board web page, read our Board papers or contact us.
