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Conducting a Regulatory Return with those whom we regulate is part of our risk-based approach to regulation which you can read more about on our website. The focus of the 2020 Regulatory Return will be on the aspects of our regulation which are likely to have the biggest impact on consumers if things were to go wrong in any particular barrister’s practice.
The information we receive from you will help us direct our regulatory attention in the future to where it is most needed. The Return is not about looking to catch anyone out.
If we do identify anything specific within a practice which gives us cause for concern as a result of the Returns we receive, then we will, wherever possible, work collaboratively with that practice to make sure things are put right. The action we take will vary depending on the results of our assessment of your Return. We may make recommendations, set actions to be completed within a certain timeframe, or, in some cases, conduct a visit to your practice.
The feedback we received from the 2015 Return was positive and many of those selected told us that they found the whole process very helpful, because it helped them to manage risks within the practice more effectively.
If you are selected this time, then we hope that you will take your time to provide comprehensive answers to the questions we ask as this will be of benefit both to you and to us. Details of how to complete the 2020 Regulatory Return and how we will make ourselves available to help you, will be communicated to the selected practices when we issue the Return questionnaire next year.
This summer we appointed AlphaPlus, an independent research company, to carry out an evaluation of the Future Bar Training reforms. This evaluation will run for at least four years and will involve evaluating both the implementation of the reforms, as well as the extent to which the reforms have succeeded in meeting their objectives.
As part of the data collection for this project we will shortly be sending out online surveys on behalf of AlphaPlus aimed at both training organisations and trainees. Collecting information at this stage of the implementation of the reforms is vital for the evaluation process – it enables the evaluation to gather baseline information from the period before the reforms are fully implemented, as well as collect valuable information on the views of those affected on how the reforms are being implemented. Any information you provide to AlphaPlus will be used confidentially and reported anonymously and will be used only for the purposes of this evaluation.