Code comes into force on Nov. 1, 2026 and should be read alongside Code of Conduct.
Purpose of the Code is to safeguard consumers by ensuring that CLC regulated lawyers and practices maintain high standards of competence in delivering legal services.
Code provides clearer, more consistent way to plan, record evidence competence.
Each year, lawyers must complete minimum of 8 ongoing competence activities, including at least 4 assessed activities, submit an Ongoing Competence Return, OCR.
Reinforces role of practices in supporting competence across legal and compliance.
This reflects the reality that competence is shaped not only by individual learning, but by how a practice supervises work, identifies risk, and responds to change.
List of topics is published to help plan and record ongoing competence activity.
The list will sit alongside our annual Risk Agenda, typically published in June, so you can use it as a practical guide when planning activity for the year ahead.
Where appropriate, mandatory topic may be set for the year and will make this clear on the ongoing competence page and in our usual communications well in advance.
Lawyers and practices will be required to submit their first completed OCR’s and ROCR’s covering the period from Nov. 1, 2026 to Oct 31, 2027, by Oct. 31, 2027.
Best preparation is to read the new Code and the FAQs for lawyers and practices.
On Mar. 12, UK CLC consulted on Ongoing Competence Code.
UK CLC announced four consultation sessions re Ongoing Competency Code (Code).
New Framework to Replace CPD
Proposed Code aims to replace existing continuing professional development (CPD).
New framework and code is proposed to replace CPD Code and Framework.
This follows publication of UK CLC's response to the 2022 consultation on principles of CPD proposals, and undertaking additional workshops in 2023.
Consultation Events
On Mar. 24 and Mar. 26, UK CLC will run a series of events for CLC practices and CLC lawyers to describe the proposals in more detail and invite any further feedback.
Specifically feedback prior to UK CLC finalizing the draft Code and then seeking approval from the Legal Services Board, ensuring proposals are easy to understand.
Also, UK CLC want to ensure proposals are feasible, and feedback will include discussion of any unforeseen impacts of the proposals for consideration.
Four online consultation sessions will be held in the week of Mar. 24.
Two sessions set out how the new Code will work for individual lawyers and two of these sessions will look at UK CLC's expectations of practices.
Dates/times to note on Mar. 26, Lawyers session at– 0900-1000 and Practices session will be held at 1230-1300, and Microsoft Teams links are provided by UK CLC.
Proposed Changes
New Code is proposed to replace the current hourly-based requirement with an activity-based requirement, supported by 83% of 2022 consultation respondents.
Standardizes requirements across all CLC lawyers, regardless of their type of licence.
Also identifies Core Topics which form part of everyday practice to be refreshed every few years, as stipulated by the UK CLC, which was first set at every 3 years.
Sets out annual Risk Agenda (introducing Suggested Topics) to provide helpful direction to UK CLC lawyers and support them to complete ongoing competence.
In particular, activities on topics which have associated current or emerging risks.
Proposals require that practices must report the ongoing competence activity of their key compliance personnel, such as UK CLC Registered manager, annually.
Includes activities of HoLP (Head of Legal Practice), HoFA (Head of Finance and Administration), and MLRO (Money Laundering Reporting Officer).
Enables ongoing competence activity to be used by UK CLC as a tool for remediation, (of which 64% respondents supported, and 20% did not hold a strong view).
Effectiveness
Consultation sessions will be held on Mar. 24, and Mar. 26, 2025.
Mar. 18, 2025 Consultation Materials
On Mar. 18, 2025, UK CLC highlighted the consultation and issued relevant materials.
The document Ongoing Competence Code – Consultation and Engagement (March 2025) contains CLC Ongoing Competence Toolkit extracts as well asthe current Impact Assessment related to the proposals for comment and feedback.
The draft code can be found in Annex 1 – Proposed Ongoing Competence Code.
Code comes into force on Nov. 1, 2026 and should be read alongside Code of Conduct.
Purpose of the Code is to safeguard consumers by ensuring that CLC regulated lawyers and practices maintain high standards of competence in delivering legal services.
Code provides clearer, more consistent way to plan, record evidence competence.
Each year, lawyers must complete minimum of 8 ongoing competence activities, including at least 4 assessed activities, submit an Ongoing Competence Return, OCR.
Reinforces role of practices in supporting competence across legal and compliance.
This reflects the reality that competence is shaped not only by individual learning, but by how a practice supervises work, identifies risk, and responds to change.
List of topics is published to help plan and record ongoing competence activity.
The list will sit alongside our annual Risk Agenda, typically published in June, so you can use it as a practical guide when planning activity for the year ahead.
Where appropriate, mandatory topic may be set for the year and will make this clear on the ongoing competence page and in our usual communications well in advance.
Lawyers and practices will be required to submit their first completed OCR’s and ROCR’s covering the period from Nov. 1, 2026 to Oct 31, 2027, by Oct. 31, 2027.
Best preparation is to read the new Code and the FAQs for lawyers and practices.
