The Law Society (TLS) : SNELS : Council Member (CM) report
Chancery Lane
September 2020
CM Brief
As Law Society Council Constituency Member for Suffolk and North Essex I represent SNELS members nationally both on TLS Council, the Conveyancing and Land Law Committee (CLLC) and on the Property Section (PS) Executive Committee.
CM Activity
Attended/ing : TLS CLLC : 30th June, 7th July, 30th July, 18th August 2020 (& 10th September 2020) (Virtual)
TLS PS Exec : 5th August 2020 (Virtual)
TLS Council : 15th July, 11th August (& 8th September 2020) (Virtual)
In order to assist input to the TLS offering to Members I am engaged with Council , CLLC and PS daily, and with the advent of Teams and Zoom supplementing e-mail, there are, further, impromptu meetings and consultations I participate in virtually every day.
Purpose : TLS is the voice of Solicitors : driving excellence in the profession and safeguarding the rule of law
Governance : Meeting and Appointments
TLS continues to conduct governance meetings virtually in light of Covid 19. TLS acknowledges the extra work imposed on the policy advisory committees and others, for adapting so well to the new ways of working. Appointment interviews for vacancies on the Policy and Regulatory Affairs Committee (PRAC) were also held virtually and successfully.
Governance : TLS AGM
In May, Council agreed to defer TLS Annual General Meeting (AGM) to 15th October. This in turn determines the timings for elections for deputy vice president (DVP) and for Council members, since their terms of office are determined by the timing of the AGM. The DVP elections have already been advertised and there is a list of declared candidates on whom detailed will be circulated in due course. It is planned to hold hustings remotely on 1st September, with elections to follow. Council elections are also deferred, and the process of inviting nominations began in early June.
Governance : IGR Compliance Preparation
TLS IGR compliance work continues. Revisions to the committee application forms, Council nomination forms, and induction training have been implemented. An audit of staff in relation to the dual role issue has been conducted and a similar audit is being conducted in relation to Elected and Appointed Members. Training is being developed for Council members and others, including senior staff, and the all-staff induction has been updated to ensure awareness across the organisation. A set of General Regulation amendments to implement a number of matters to do with IGR compliance was agreed by Council in June (this also included the changes necessary to implement the move of the SRA to incorporated sub-entity status, subject only to the agreement between TLS and SRA Boards of some outstanding finance, accounting, and tax matters). TLS has spoken to the LSB and submitted our regulatory arrangements alterations application, and we do not expect any issues to arise.
Public Affairs
In May and June, TLS and its campaigns were mentioned 17 times in Hansard and 32 times in social media accounts linked to parliamentarians on issues including:
Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill; Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill; Domestic Abuse Bill; and Counter Terrorism Bill.
In the past months, TLS has held high-level stakeholder engagement on our priority issues with the following Government and parliamentary stakeholders:
Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland QC MP; Justice Minister, Alex Chalk MP; Professional and Business Services Minister, Nadhim Zahawi MP; Future Relationship with the EU Chair, Hilary Benn MP; Shadow Justice Secretary, David Lammy MP; Shadow Attorney General, Lord Falconer; Lib Dem justice spokesperson, Daisy Cooper MP; and Chair of the Housing, Communities and local government, Clive Betts MP.
The President made written representations to the Lord Chancellor, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Housing Secretary on legal aid firms, business rates and access to justice matters, and gave oral evidence to the EU Services subcommittee in the House of Lords on legal services and the future relationship.
Digital : Website
The new TLS website has been live in beta since late February. In line with best practice, traffic has been built slowly, but now a link from the old site is shown to all visitors, encouraging them to try the new site. This includes a significantly improved search function, redesigned content and a new navigation based on research with members. The new site includes Junior Lawyer, In-house and Small Firms content and these community microsites are now closed. This will ensure all relevant content for these audiences is accessible in one place, improving the member experience
Digital : My Law Society
My Law Society (MLS) and practice notes launched in beta in late May. This is currently being tested with members and was fully launched in early July. TLS plans to encourage existing MLS account holders to set a new password. Many existing MLS account holders had not validated their status as a solicitor. The new approach has a much simpler registration journey, so we anticipate generating better data from these members as well as from those signing up to a MLS account for the first time. This data will enable TLS to present tailored content, making sure we show content relevant to members in the future.
Learning and Development
The beta launch of ‘Law Society Learning’, our new Learning Management System (LMS), has continued. It was released internally to Society staff, and the feedback received was positive. The new LMS hosts completely new bite-sized eLearning modules, along with a fully digital risk and compliance accreditation. All content is also mapped to TLS new curriculum, which will make it easier for members to develop their own learning and professional development pathways. TLS has also been delivering webinars as digital alternatives to the face-to-face events that were cancelled due to Covid-19
Policy Impact
Main effort has been focussed on the impacts of CV 19 for the profession and for the rule of law. TLS has continued to address the urgent issues, as well as looking forward to the longer-term impacts on members, their businesses, access to justice and the rule of law. TLS business support work has focused on the accessibility of existing support measures for members and the need for additional measures to help members, not only to manage cashflow, but also reduce costs and/or supplement income. Successes include establishment of the part-time furlough scheme and extension of the period for which the furlough scheme will run. TLS has produced and contributed to guidance to support members with many aspects of running their business during the pandemic, including guidance on the return to the office and virtual execution.
TLS continues to press government for measures to help the longer-term recovery of the legal services sector. TLS is particularly concerned about the impact of the pandemic on the Legal Aid system and TLS has been pressing for urgent support for the sector, as well as progress on longer-term sustainability. TLS has contributed to several inquiries on the impact for the rule of law and access to justice, including the Women and Equalities Committee work regarding the impact on people with particular protected characteristics. TLS is seeking to influence the Government’s evaluation of remote hearings, with a view to shaping future policy in this regard.
In addition to TLS CV19 work, work on regulatory matters has continued, including influencing in relation to the SQE, engaging on the proposed economic crime levy, responding to publication of the Mayson report, and preparing to engage on the LSB’s three-year strategy.
Strategic Insight and Influence
Work is focussed on the priorities established by Council in last year’s business planning process. Plans were created to prioritise eight themes of work:
(1) Access to Justice and the Rule of Law (2) Role of the Profession, Reputation (3) Technology (4) Civil Justice (5) Regulation (6) Brexit and the International Rule of Law (7) Role of the Profession, AML (8) Property
The above themes have been used as headings to identify how TLS activities are leading to outcomes on the agreed priorities. By the time Government announced their lockdown on 23rd March we had established a CV19 Steering Group to develop a strategy to deal with the business and member impacts of the pandemic. The focus for many of the existing policy themes has shifted to reflect the impact of CV19 on the particular issue involved.
CV 19
TLS access to justice work on the pandemic has focused on member safety and business support. TLS has promoted several positive moves in relation to member safety. The protocol to ensure our members’ safety in the police station has now been embedded in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) codes, to give the protocol added force. Courts are now required to complete and make available to users a ‘risk assessment’ explaining how they have ensured their premises comply with Public Health England (PHE) requirements. TLS is also working with HM Prisons and Probation Service on how face-to-face prison visits can be safely restarted, and with the judiciary and other stakeholders on increasing the number and type of face-to-face hearings that can be held in the courts.
TLS is monitoring the longer-term effects of the pandemic on access to justice and the rule of law, and have so far contributed to inquiries by the Women and Equalities Committee on the impact on people with protected characteristics under the Equality Act, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee on homelessness and the private rented sector, and the Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry on the human rights implications of the Coronavirus Act 2020.
TLS has also written to the relevant government departments to clarify the circumstances under which changes to the Mental Health Act 1983 would come into force, and to raise concerns about the stripping back of important safeguards for vulnerable children in the Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020
TLS has had numerous successes in relation to business support. Government accepted our request for a new loan scheme to be made available for firms whose turnover exceeds £45m and are unable to access the Bank of England CV 19 scheme. In response to TLS lobbying, the British Business Bank reduced its restrictive security criteria by not seeking guarantees for loans less than £250,000 and not taking security over an applicant’s primary residence for larger loans
Following TLS representations, we were pleased that the Land Registry announced that it was willing to accept Mercury signatures, and we engaged with the Land Registry, MoJ and SRA on additional guidance to supplement our practice notes on electronic signatures and virtual execution.
Roger Buston TLS Council Member SNELS
Birkett Long LLP September 2020
Mobile : 07 770 305 977
E Mail : roger.buston@birkettlong.co.uk.
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