For Immediate Release: 28 March
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today published its annual Business Plan which details our activities and commitments for 2025-26.
The year ahead will be pivotal for the Bar Standards Board as we finalise our new five-year strategy for 2026-31 on which we are currently consulting.
This business plan sets out what we intend to deliver over the next year to sustain high standards at the Bar to promote the diversity of the profession and to improve access to barristers’ services, while also enhancing the regulatory capacity and independence of the Bar Standards Board. Our ambitious Reform Programme aims at proactive, consumer-focused regulation, at modernised delivery of regulatory functions and at building on the capability and engagement of our people.
Four priorities will guide our work for the year ahead:
- The Bar Standards Board delivering in the public interest – maintaining standards through authorisations, enforcement, supervision and consistently hitting our demanding operational targets;
- Reforming the Bar Standards Board – continuous change and improvement through our ambitious Reform Programme which will have a transformative impact on our regulation and the services we provide;
- Strategic issues and developments – focusing on completing key programmes of work; including the revision of the Equality Rules on which the Board will take decisions in May following a full consultation which has deeply engaged the profession and wider stakeholders; and
- Our Future Strategy – laying the consultative, research and analytical groundwork for our strategy ahead of publication in Spring 2026.
Mark Neale, Director General, The Bar Standards Board said:
“The year ahead will focus on transforming the Bar Standards Board as a public interest regulator. We have made good progress and improved our productivity and the timeliness of our services in the last year while maintaining the high quality of our decision-making. This is a tribute to the commitment and hard work of our people.
We know we can do more to enhance our approach to regulation and to modernise the delivery of our operations. This is key to both public protection and to public confidence in regulation. As we plan for the next five years we are committed to continuous improvement and to regulation, in partnership with the profession, which promotes an accessible, diverse and high-quality Bar.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
About the Bar Standards Board
Our mission is to regulate barristers and specialised legal services businesses in England and Wales in the public interest. For more information about what we do visit: http://bit.ly/1gwui8t.
Contact: For all media enquiries call: 07432 713 328 email [email protected]