New competence framework essential to avoid a legal Mid-Staffs scandal, says SRA

Outcomes-based approach to legal education and training will place responsibility on individuals to undertake suitable professional development

A new continuing competence scheme for solicitors will help avoid the legal equivalent of Harold Shipman or the Mid-Staffordshire scandal, the SRA has said as it unveiled its proposed outcomes-based approach to legal education and training.

"Continuing competence has never been more important in a world where public confidence and trust in the traditional professions has been eroded as a result of high-profile cases such as Shipman and Mid-Staffordshire in the health sector, and the financial crisis," the regulator has said in its 'Training for Tomorrow' report.

The report, which seeks to act on recommendations in the Legal Education and Training Review, provides further detail of the plan outlined last week by Antony Townsend, in which the outgoing chief executive announced a move away from a prescriptive, tick-box approach.

In a clear statement, the report also affirmed that the 'solicitor' qualification should be retained. The "generic qualification" would be based on common attributes such as "ethics, independence, legal reasoning, and respect for and understanding of the rule of law".

Tailored training

But there would be new ways of achieving the qualification, including a blend of academic, vocational and on-the-job training which could start as early as 2017-18.

Post-qualification training would be overhauled too, with the SRA possibly scrapping the current hours-based CPD scheme entirely, according to SRA training director Julie Brannan.

As a minimum, a new system will be introduced, which will make individual solicitors responsible for determining and undertaking the post-qualification training they believe suits them.

Under the proposed system, it will be "in large part the obligation of individuals, in conjunction with the organisation in which they work, to tailor professional development to reflect their particular needs and circumstances - leaving the regulator to prescribe only where there are identified and significant risks to the public interest," said education committee head Martin Coleman (pictured).

The Norton Rose partner went on to explain the extent of the changes will depend on the result of the regulator's forthcoming consultation, but that the objectives were clear.

The SRA's focus, he said, will be on ensuring that "those who deliver legal services meet our standards with less emphasis on the process by which high quality outcomes are achieved" and that the system "can adapt over time to take account of changes in legal services markets".

Educational and training providers, as well as employers, would be expected to "come up with innovative and efficient ways of achieving the necessary outcomes" and support schemes that help widen access to the profession.

Such access would include apprenticeships, the development of integrated academic, vocational and on-the-job training courses, and new routes allowing experienced non-legal staff to qualify as solicitors without going through the traditional route.

Costly choices

But while the regulator acknowledged the growing concerns over job prospects for newly qualified lawyers - and the level of debt many are burdened with - it stopped short of setting out a plan to tackle the issue.

"It is important the all stakeholders, and in particular prospective students and employers, fully understand the consequences of their choices," Coleman said. "The costs of making a wrong choice (both financial and in terms of 'lost' alternative career opportunities) are high."

However, he continued, "It is no part of our role to demand-manage the number of solicitors qualifying, but those who offer education and training should be transparent about outcomes in a way that allows students and employers to make informed decisions."