PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(7 September 2026)

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the interface between the police and approved legal regulators in cases where each declines to investigate an allegation of document fraud by reference to the responsibility of the other.

Asked by:
Gareth Thomas (Labour)

The police are operationally independent of Government, and legal services regulators exercise their regulatory functions independently of Government. Decisions on whether to investigate suspected criminal offences are operational matters for the police, while legal services regulators determine how concerns within their regulatory remit are handled and set the guidance on reporting them. In relation to regulated solicitors in England and Wales, such regulatory guidance is therefore a matter for the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

It is possible for certain regulatory investigations to take place alongside criminal investigations, as reflected, for example, in the SRA’s published guidance: https://referral.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/investigations-parallel/. Legal services regulators may have arrangements in place with law enforcement to support cooperation and share information where appropriate.

The Ministry of Justice has not made a specific assessment of the interface between the police and legal services regulators in the circumstances described. The Government expects allegations of misconduct and criminality to be appropriately considered by the bodies responsible, while recognising that it is for each body to determine whether investigation is warranted within its remit.

The Legal Services Board holds legal services regulators to account for their performance, including the overall effectiveness of their enforcement and operational delivery. If the evidence were to indicate a systemic gap in the effectiveness of the regulatory framework that resulted in allegations not being appropriately considered, the Government would consider this with the Legal Services Board and other relevant bodies.

Answered by:
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