The Legal Services Board (LSB) has said that legal services regulators must do more to strengthen lawyers’ ethical standards, it has capped the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) budget and the Ministry of Justice’s call for evidence on the LSB Public Bodies Review has now closed.
LSB ethics proposals
The LSB has said that the legal services regulators must do more to strengthen lawyers’ ethical standards and it has set out new expectations designed to reinforce lawyers’ role in upholding the rule of law. The LSB has confirmed that where duties conflict, lawyers must prioritise their duties to the court and the rule of law over their duty to their client. This follows the oversight regulator’s consultation last year.
The LSB has identified three areas where regulators must act:
- more consistent education and training in ethics
- clearer and more practical regulatory guidance
- stronger workplace support for lawyers in upholding standards
The consultation highlighted concerns about the misuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs).
In response, Chair of the Bar Kirsty Brimelow KC said: “At the Bar, there is already a robust ethical framework in place. This already includes a priority of duties and ethical standards that must be met in education, pupillage and in the first three years of practice. The Bar Council itself has long supported barristers with understanding their ethical obligations. We deliver a weekday daily ethical enquiries service for all practising barristers via email and on the phone. We also provide a wide range of ethics and practice guidance and events.
"We think a principles-based approach is appropriate for the LSB's ethical policy statement, but this should not be taken as an indication of the need to make substantial change to the regulation of the Bar. We are pleased that the LSB acknowledge that some regulators are already meeting most of their expectations, but we do want to see the BSB Handbook updated to make it clearer and easier to use."
The Bar Council has closely followed the changes and legislation relating to NDAs and SLAPPs. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) empowers judges to strike out claims at an early stage in proceedings. The legislation has already been tested by Dan Neidle and has shown to be capable of addressing some of the concerns raised by some lawyers, civil society groups and journalists.
The Bar Council remains supportive of further legislative measures that would tackle outstanding issues not within the remit of the ECCTA. We have long said that the most effective solution to tackle SLAPPS is legislation not more regulation of the Bar.
There has also been some recent changes on NDAs. The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 provides clarification on the enforceability of confidentiality clauses in certain circumstances and the Employment Rights Act 2025 has addressed the use of NDAs to cover up harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Furthermore, some NDAs in higher education have been banned using legislation.
Kirsty Brimelow KC added: "The Bar Council has a strong track record of tackling bullying and harassment in our sector, and we have backed moves that have strengthened the law in the public interest.
"We recognise that NDAs and SLAPPS should be considered and included in the LSB's work on professional ethics, but we do not agree, if it is suggested, that these are commonplace abuses at the Bar, or that they require additional regulatory control. The ethical issues faced by different legal professionals can arise in strikingly different circumstances and for this reason the Bar Council is opposed to an overly prescriptive approach. Later this year we will publish our own ethics report.”
LeO budget announcement
The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) has been given a budget for its next financial year that is in line with our consistent requests for the LSB to exercise tighter budget oversight.
According to reporting by Legal Futures: The LSB has rejected the LeO’s 11.1% budget increase (£2.2m) and has agreed a 6.5% increase (£1.3m). The current budget is £20m.
Kirsty Brimelow KC said: "We have consistently requested that the LSB exercises tighter oversight of the LeO budget so the confirmation of a lower increase is good news for our members. The LeO has a projected increase to their already large case backlog and they are also dealing with an increase in complaints. This work should take priority and they will need to plan to ensure the budget is efficiently spent on addressing these core areas of work."
LSB public bodies review
The Bar Council has responded to the Ministry of Justice’s LSB public bodies review. In our submission, we highlighted that we regularly ask the LSB to improve its focus on key assistance and oversight activities and spend less time on activities that are less relevant to its statutory role.
Under the current arrangements, the Bar Council lacks power to scrutinise the regulatory functions carried out in its name by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) and its budget. Communication between the Bar Council and the BSB on regulatory matters is subject to a formal protocol and the result has been a distortion of the role and responsibility of the Bar Council, mandated by s.28 of the Legal Services Act 2007. The LSB cannot step in to fill this “scrutiny gap” as it lacks any “on the ground” experience of barristers’ conduct.
Our response also suggests the LSB has not made sufficient use of its own powers to scrutinise the BSB’s budget plans and has allowed significant year-on-year increases to the BSB’s budget without regard to the concerns and objections voiced to it by the Bar Council on behalf of our members. The LSB is funded by the legal profession so it should be careful with its spending.
Since the 2022 budget, we have been concerned by successive above-inflation increases to the LSB budget so we are pleased there is no budget increase proposed, but this is owing in large part to office cost related savings, and we would like to see financial prudence to continue in future years.