The SRA has taken the first steps towards replacing the prescriptive requirements of the training contract with a more targeted approach to ensure solicitors have the skills to deliver high quality legal services.
Following agreement from the SRA board, in early December an SRA consultation will be published on the review of the SRA Training Regulations.
Final approval of the changes should go to the SRA Board next spring, with changes to the Handbook made in May or June. This will enable them to be implemented in time for the 2014 academic year.
Director of Education and Training, Julie Brannan said: "This is the first in a programme of changes announced in our Training for Tomorrow policy statement, and published in October, which laid out our plans for radical reform of the legal education and training framework.
“It is part of the SRA’s Red Tape Initiative to remove unnecessary regulations wherever possible.
"Our aim is to reduce unnecessary regulation and enable more flexibility, while ensuring that there is a greater focus on the quality and standards of those who we regulate to deliver legal services."
Other proposed changes include plans to replace student enrolment with a targeted means of dealing with character and suitability issues; to remove the requirement for the SRA to issue a Certificate of Completion of the Academic Stage of Training; and to avoid duplication of Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) procedures in quality assuring the QLD, CPE and LPC.
