We have published our annual business plan which details our activities and commitments for 2026-27.
The year ahead will see us improve performance across our frontline services as we focus on establishing operational excellence. We will do this by investing in people and resources and by building better processes and systems to handle and manage capacity in casework.
Four priorities will guide our work for the year ahead:
Building a high performing regulator - we will assess and investigate cases more quickly. We will prioritise eradicating backlogs by the end of the year in authorisations and give assurance that transferring qualified lawyers meet the requisite standards for entry to the Bar of England & Wales.
Improving culture in the profession - we will continue our work in collaboration with the Bar Council and the Conduct Commissioner as we support the broader cultural change challenge highlighted in the Harman Report on bullying and harassment at the Bar. We will complete our consultation on the proposed changes to our enforcement regulations to make our enforcement process more efficient and effective, without jeopardising the quality of our decisions.
Shaping a well-functioning market for Barrister services that supports growth - we will continue to build our understanding of how the barrister market is changing to inform future policy considerations and our strategy to be taken forward across the second half of the decade.
Enabling success – we will establish a confident culture of high performance defined by values and behaviours and clear success measures and new ways of working. This will strengthen leadership as we enable our people and work towards stronger operational delivery and confidence in the BSB.
Steve Haines, Interim Director General, The Bar Standards Board said:
“Over the next year the BSB will focus on establishing operational excellence and where we need to reset and evolve for longer-term success. Our ambition is to reduce the unit costs of our operational work in the coming years and to create a regulatory system that operates effectively.
We will also improve confidence in our approach to tackling bullying, harassment and sexual harassment, with better experiences for those who report concerns. We will review our overall approach to education and training at the Bar to ensure our work here is efficient and effective. We will also seek out opportunities alongside the wider legal services sector in support of the growth ambitions for the UK economy.”
