Practising certificate fees in England and Wales are expected to increase by 10% next year, from Stg £266 to Stg £286, the first time the fee has increased since 2013.

The hike will raise an extra Stg £10.4 million in total, the England and Wales Law Society Gazette has reported.

The Law Society of England and Wales and the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA) have jointly applied to collect Stg £114.7 million from the profession in 2022/23 – up from Stg £104.3 million in the current year.  

SRA takes largest slice

Funding the SRA accounts for around 53% of the fee contributions, while 29% funds the Law Society. The remainder covers the costs of the Legal Ombudsman, Legal Services Board (LSB), Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, and the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision.

All the fee levels are subject to approval by the LSB, the oversight regulator.

The SRA board agreed the SRA funding requirement for 2022/23 at its meeting on 28 June, and this was included in the overall Law Society group funding requirement.

There is no change to the compensation-fund contributions already announced: these remain at Stg £30 for individuals, and Stg £690 for firms holding client moneys.

Fee levels

All the fee levels are subject to approval by the LSB, the oversight regulator.

The SRA board agreed the SRA funding requirement for 2022/23 at its meeting on 28 June, and this was included in the overall Law Society group funding requirement.

There is no change to the compensation-fund contributions already announced: these remain at Stg £30 for individuals, and Stg £690 for firms holding client moneys.