SRA may axe minimum trainee pay rules

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is once again considering whether to abolish the minimum annual salary for trainee solicitors. As reported in The Lawyer, the issue was last reviewed in 2007, when an SRA consultation found overwhelming support for keeping the minimum pay rules.

The policy dates back 30 years to 1982, when it was originally implemented to prevent the exploitation of trainees and encourage high flying and ambitious candidates into the legal profession. The current minimum salary, which has been frozen for the two years due to the economic downturn, stands at £16,650 for those working outside London, rising to £18,590 for trainees in the city.

The consultation, which started on 11 January, has been found necessary because of growing fears that the minimum pay rule has failed to achieve any of its regulatory objectives which are set down in the Legal Services Act, and has possibly even had a detrimental effect in certain areas. One example of this is the potential failure of the rule's role in ensuring a fair and diverse legal profession: as reported in Legal Futures, 42% of trainees from ethnic minority backgrounds are on the minimum salary, in contrast to a much smaller proportion (27%) of white trainees.

Samantha Barrass, the SRA's executive director, said: "Our consultation paper explains that there is no clear evidence that setting a minimum salary for trainees fulfils any of the regulatory objectives within the Legal Services Act. We do not regulate prices, including rate of pay, in any other area of our work. We have compared the practice with other professional regulators and found very few examples where this occurs. It would appear that setting a minimum salary does not address any identified risk to the public interest or the rule of law, nor is it clear that it improves access to the profession. We want to make sure that we have fully considered the potential impact of deregulation. For this reason the board has decided to launch a full consultation and hold focus groups with stakeholders over the next few months, before considering whether any changes should be made to the existing arrangements."