News release

Chief executive sets out priorities for change in 2026

19 March 2026

Speaking at a meeting of the Law Society Council on 18 March 2026, Chief Executive Sarah Rapson shared our priorities for 2026, focused on fixing our foundations and rebuilding trust with both the public and the profession.

Ms Rapson acknowledged that we have not always met expectations on delivery, citing slow casework, rising reports and a tendency to be too reactive. In response, we will be focusing on a renewed set of priorities – operational excellence, improving collaboration, proactive identification and a focus on big issues – to tackle these issues at pace.

The priorities are also intended to improve the public and profession's experience of us. We will do this by cutting investigation times, refocusing on core issues, encouraging compliance rather than relying on enforcement and proactive work to mitigate risks to consumers, rather than higher-cost interventions that occur later.

Ms Rapson stated her desire that, over the long term, we become a more modern, proportionate regulator that is effective and trusted by the public and the profession we regulate.

Sarah Rapson, Chief Executive of the SRA, said: 'The priorities I have outlined for 2026 will make a big difference to how the SRA operates and how it is perceived. The north star is to be a more modern, proportionate regulator that is effective and is trusted. We at the SRA are committed to delivering that difference.

'We are in a challenging environment. There is a lot of change in the sector, the organisation has had its issues and is facing growing pressures. There is a lot of work to be done, and we want to deliver improvements at pace. The explicit focus is on getting the basics of good regulation right.

'Fundamentally, we need to be trusted to do our job and to have an impact. We know we need to work hard to rebuild that. Trust is the benchmark for our success.

'I am looking forward to working with stakeholders on these priorities.'

Four priorities for change

Operational excellence

Engagement with a variety of our stakeholders identified uneven operational performance as a key concern with slow casework and uneven delivery. We will focus on improvements to governance, culture, and leadership, including:

• expanding the executive team, adding capacity and expertise to manage current risks
• changes to culture to make sure colleagues understand their role in identifying and acting swiftly to address risk of harm.

Alongside this, there will be a comprehensive review of casework process, looking at:

• reviewing the application of our assessment threshold test
• making improvements to QA of triage and investigations
• developing alternatives to full investigation in a new supervision pilot.

Improving collaboration

Stakeholders also raised concerns that, at times, we do not understand the challenges of life as a solicitor. To strengthen collaboration with the profession, the following changes are planned:

• significantly more engagement from the chief executive and senior leadership
• strengthening the organisation's engagement and communications approach
• more transparency about regulatory action and the reasons behind it.

Proactive risk identification

A common theme in recent issues has been a reactive approach to addressing risks. With the significant rise in reports of misconduct and caseloads, the current approach is unsustainable.

To tackle this, we will continue our move towards a more proactive, data-led approach to supervision, including:

• rolling out a law firm profiler tool across the organisation, to give teams a single, coherent view of the risks at firms
• launching a new rapid risk assessment and a strategic risk assessment in parallel
• launching an intensive supervision pilot to find new tools and techniques to reduce harm.

Focusing on the big issues

By targeting resources to the issues that matter most, we can help better protect the public and support the sector to thrive. This includes specific measures on high-volume consumer claims (HVCC) sector, where we have identified significant risks to the public, such as:

• our recent no-win no-fee warning notice
• piloting a supervision taskforce to look at innovative approaches to HVCC firms
• publishing updated guidance on good practice and expectations of firms in their use of litigation funding and after-the-event insurance.

Looking ahead

These changes, being actioned in 2026, will form the foundation for our new three-year corporate strategy. This will be consulted on later this year and the final strategy launched in 2027.

Sarah Rapson, Chief Executive of the SRA added: 'This is about fixing the foundations so we can build a regulator that is fit for the future. It will not be easy, but the direction is clear – a modern, proportionate regulator that is trusted and effective.'