From the Chairwoman

I look forward to a happy and productive 2022 for all our members!

I write to update members on what has happened since the last Executive Committee meetings on 12 January 2022 and 22 March 2022 but fi rst it is with great pleasure that I announce the appointment of the new SPG Vice Chair Dorcas Falode and I look forward to working with Dorcas for the remainder of my time as Chair.

Dorcas currently heads the Health and Well Being Sub Committee and I and the Executive Committee are very pleased with the initiatives Dorcas is introducing in this area.

25th Annual Conference - Business Growth Summit – Carden Park

I am pleased to inform members that the President of the Law Society, I. Stephanie Boyce and Stephen Gowland of the Legal Services Board are among the interesting speakers who are attending the SPG Annual 25th Conference at Carden Park.

The tickets for the annual conference are now available to book online. I recommend that members book early for this to secure your place as the conference venue is a luxury Hotel & Spa in the heart of Cheshire’s countryside with not just interesting speakers but a range of exhibitors to assist in your practice as well as providing members with the opportunity to engage with fellow SP’s - and have some fun too.

Dorcas has also arranged for health and well being coach, Charlène Gisèle Bourliout to attend the Annual Conference both as a speaker and also to have one to one sessions with attendees over the course of the weekend. I am looking forward to what I hope will be both an informative, enabling and fun conference for all who attend.

Solicitors Indemnity Fund (SIF) This remains an important issue for our members and the SPG submitted a robust response to the SRA’s consultation which can be accessed on our website. The LSB Consumer Panel’s response also expressed concerns with the detriment it would cause for consumers of legal services.

At the last SPG/SRA quarterly meeting I attended with fellow executive committee members on 21st March, we were informed that the SIF issue is going to go to the main board in April 2022 for a decision on next steps.

We were also informed that the SRA have been holding consumer focus groups since the consultation closed.

Pastoral Care/Health and Wellbeing I and the Executive Committee believe it is increasingly becoming more important that we provide access and assistance to our members in this area.

Dorcas Falode heads this new area for the SPG and will be engaging with people/fi rms in this area to provide information and assistance for our members both ongoing and at our Annual Business Growth Summit at Carden Park in June.

Committee Attendees If any SP member would like to attend the National Executive Committee meetings as an observer please contact me at joanna@spg.uk.com and I will arrange it for you. Two recent attendees joined the committee after attending to observe.

Engagement with Members We have maintained contact with our members via Mail Chimp with Seminars, consultations and other items that may be of interest you.

The SPG website’s members private interactive forum is being fi nalised and should go live in the next few weeks, I hope it will go live shortly. Members will be able to engage with each other and access useful information in their areas of practice (and other areas).

New SPG Initiatives The Legal Services Boards Consumer Panel Chair has asked us to make representations on issues we consider lead to consumer detriment.

At the last National Executive Committee Meeting on 22 March 2022, it was agreed that the following areas of concern would be looked at:

1. Conveyancing 1.1 Referral fees between solicitors and estate agents as they have no direct benefi t to the consumer. Consumers are referred by estate agents to fi rms who pay the referral fees rather than on the quality of service. 1.2 The current practice of one solicitor acting for both mortgage lender and the consumer borrower, the solicitor being on the mortgage lenders panel of solicitors. This appears to the Committee to present a clear confl ict of interest and is detrimental to the area of consumer choice.

1.3 The current emphasis by our regulators for the services that solicitors off er in this area to be compared on price rather than quality of service. Price is only one element that should be considered, the lowest fee does not of itself indicate quality of service. When SPs are instructed in a conveyancing transaction the consumer is dealing direct with the solicitor. In the larger fi rms where referral fees are often paid to the estate agents for the introduction the consumer is usually dealing with a paralegal. 1.4 The current restrictions encountered by SP’s not being allowed to be on mortgage lenders panels of solicitors.

2. Wills 2.1 This is an area that should be regulated for all as the detriment it causes to the consumer. 2.2 Solicitors off er a premium, regulated and insured service. Consumers have recourse to the Legal Ombudsman should there need to be complaints. 2.3 Unregulated and uninsured will writer fi rms are being allowed to act in this area. The consumer has no recourse to the Legal Ombudsman Service or any other similar service should there be a need for complaint. 2.4 Poorly drafted wills by an unregulated and uninsured will writer fi rm which leads to an expensive inheritance dispute leaves the consumer with no recourse to either insurers or a regulatory body,

The Executive Committee would appreciate it if SP members with experience of issues in the above areas would share them with us so as to better inform the reports we are preparing in these areas. Please contact me initially at joanna@spg.uk.com

Attendances Some of my attendances externally since the last edition of Solo are: 1. SIF Roundtable on 13 January 2022 2. MS Teams meeting – Legal Services Board

Consumer Panel – 23 February 2022 3. Lawtech Webinar on 24 February 2022 4. SPG Birmingham Regional & West Midlands meeting - 7 March 2022 5. Lunch with Stephanie Boyce - President of the

Law Society – 10 March 2022 6. SPG/SRA quarterly meeting – MS Teams – 22 March 2022 7. MS Teams meetings with those who have expressed interest in sponsoring SPG

Joanna Connolly SPG Chair

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