The Bar Standards Board (BSB) is preparing its five-year strategy, a comprehensive plan for the regulation of the barrister profession into the 2030s. This strategy will set out the BSB’s priorities for the years ahead, offering a clear roadmap of how we plan to deliver our regulatory functions in the public interest.
As we shape the strategy, we want to gather insights and evidence from a range of organisations and individuals. We are, therefore, inviting our key stakeholders, including consumers, barristers and other groups, to contribute. The feedback will help us build a strategy that is informed and has impact, supporting a profession that delivers for consumers and for the wider justice system. More details on how you can contribute your views can be found here (a summary of the full document is also available here) and the deadline for responses is 9 April 2025.
Once we have gathered feedback from this phase, we will then prepare later in 2025 a draft strategy for public consultation, which will be shared on our website, social media and with key stakeholders. The strategy will come into effect from April 2026.
Mark Neale, Director-General of the Bar Standards Board said:
“The BSB is committed to developing a comprehensive five-year strategy. We welcome the opportunity to gather evidence and insights from our stakeholders to help shape this crucial work.
This strategy will focus on the public interest. It will consider how professional standards themselves might need to evolve to reflect changing consumer expectations, the opportunities of new technologies and the ethical challenges revealed by the Post Office scandal. It will also look to build on our understanding of the market for barristers’ services, including ensuring that the supply of barristers in different areas of practice matches the future needs of the public.
And, of course, it will be grounded on the need for the Bar Standards Board itself to be efficient and effective in discharging our regulatory functions, including our enforcement work, which underpin public confidence in our regulation and in the profession."
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 or email [email protected].
