In the Media

LSB chair wants more cash for research

PUBLISHED November 26, 2012
SHARE

Monday 26 November 2012 by John Hyde

The head of the Legal Services Board has claimed the group's £250,000 research budget is 'not enough'.

LSB chairman David Edmonds revealed that funding for research projects is being cut by 17% in the next financial year as the regulator is encouraged to work more in partnership with other parts of the legal profession.

Speaking last week at the launch of a website to publish research, Edmonds argued the LSB was still carrying out important work distinctive from other bodies.

He said: 'We would like to work with the Bar Standards Board and Solicitors Regulation Authority on collective projects which has not been as easy as I'd have liked.'

The LSB is under pressure to reduce its overall budget in the coming years. The operational budget for 2012/13 is £4.5m - a yearly reduction of 9% - and that figure should reduce by a further £100,000 by 2014/15.

Over the three years of the LSB's existence, it has published 22 pieces of research. Publications in the coming months are due to cover high street firms, small businesses' experiences of legal services and, working alongside the charity Mencap, research on the most vulnerable legal consumers.

All previous research projects, on changes to the profession, market trends and complaints-handling are now available.

CATEGORIES