Law Society: Developing new corporate strategy
Solicitors are set to pay £38m towards being represented by the Law Society after it announced plans for a 2% rise in the income it takes from the coming year’s practising fees.
The practising certificate fee (PCF) was £307 last year and, until the Solicitors Regulation Authority reveals its budget for the next financial year, it will not be known whether this will go up for 2025/26.
Though practising fees largely pay for regulation, the Legal Services Act 2007 allows the Law Society in its representative guise also to access them for ‘permitted purposes’ – certain prescribed non-regulatory activities, such as law reform and practice advice.
For the current year (to 31 October 2025), the aim was to collect £132m between PCF and firm fees (split 40/60).
Of this, £70.2m (53%) went to the SRA and £36.8m (28%) to the Law Society, while the remaining £24.8m (19%) was solicitors’ contribution to fund the work of the Legal Ombudsman, Legal Services Board, Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision.
A consultation issued by the Law Society yesterday said the 2% increase would take its share to £37.6m.
“That reflects a rate of increase below the current Bank of England forecast for general inflation,” it said. “Keeping the increase at this level is possible as the Law Society has accumulated reserves which can be drawn on to fund some activities in the coming year.”
The Law Society set and held a reduced practising fee requirement at £28.5m during Covid, before increasing it over each of the last three years by 15%, 7% and then 5%.
The Law Society’s current-year budget is £50m in total, with commercial activities the main source of other income.
The society is currently drafting a new three-year corporate strategy, which it said would be focused on five “missions”:
- Technology, the practice of law and the experience of consumers;
- Promoting economic growth of legal services in tandem with a focus on better regulation;
- Promoting access to justice and the rule of law in the UK and around the world
- Supporting the profession on all aspects of environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters; and
- Championing our profession and the member experience.
