SRA responds to feedback on its 2026/27 business plan and compensation fund proposals

16 July 2026

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has welcomed feedback on its draft 2026/27 Business Plan and funding requirement and has outlined changes it will make to final proposals to reflect what it has heard.

During an extensive consultation exercise - in which the regulator canvassed views of the profession, consumer representatives and wider stakeholders - the SRA found general support for its ambitious programme of improvements for the year ahead. The proposals focus around the SRA’s key priorities of delivering operational excellence, the proactive identification of risk, focussing on big issues and improving collaboration.

Ahead of publishing its final plan later in the summer, the SRA is now considering where it can make improvements to its proposals to address some of the specific themes arising in feedback. For example, addressing concerns about transparency by providing more detail and regular updates on progress, providing more information on the impact of its work, and providing evidence that investments are delivering value for money.

The programme of work outlined in the business plan is the basis for the SRA's proposed 2026/27 budget and funding requirement. An application to approve this will be submitted to the Legal Services Board shortly.

Sarah Rapson, Chief Executive of the SRA, said: 'We are grateful to everyone who took the time to respond to our consultation. Lots of insightful and constructive feedback was received, which is all proving valuable in helping us to refine our final position in key areas.

'Stakeholders understood the need for change and investment, and there was particularly strong support for the work we outlined to protect consumers and uphold trust in legal services and the profession more generally. Not surprisingly we also heard some challenge and concerns, not least the impact of the compensation fund fee increase on smaller firms.

'The Board has carefully considered what we can do to address these issues ahead of submitting our final funding requirement to the Legal Services Board for approval.'

Change to SRA Compensation Fund (70/30 apportionment)

One of the main areas of concern raised during the consultation was the potentially disproportionate impact that increases in fees or compensation fund contributions would have upon smaller firms. With this in mind - and building on issues previously examined as part of its consumer protection review - the SRA is proposing to make changes to how contribution levels to the SRA Compensation Fund are calculated.

Where currently 50 per cent of fund resources comes from individual contributions and the other half from firms, the SRA is proposing a change to 70 per cent of monies coming from individuals and 30 per cent from firms.

Making this change will mean - if they pay contributions on behalf of solicitors they employ – that firms employing 29 solicitors or fewer (around two-thirds of all firms) will pay less into the compensation fund overall in 2026/27 than they would have done if contributions remained calculated on a 50/50 basis.

This will result in proposed contribution levels for 2026/27 of:

• £2,170 for an SRA-regulated firm (compared to £3,600 under 50/50 model) 
• £170 for an individual solicitor (compared to £120 under 50/50 model)

Since the current compensation fund arrangements were introduced in 2010, there has been a significant increase in the overall numbers of solicitors coupled with a fall in the number of SRA-regulated firms. As a result, changing to a 70/30 apportionment will help restore the overall balance between what firms and individuals contribute, to a position more aligned with that which existed in 2010.

The SRA’s proposals for the 2026/27 compensation fund contribution levels will now be submitted to the Legal Services Board for final approval. A separate application will also be made in respect of the SRA's final funding requirement.

Compensation fund contributions are paid by firms and individuals as part of their wider authorisation and practising certificate renewal every October.