SRA approves "landmark" PC fee changes

Local government lawyers now have a date from which they can expect to pay significantly reduced practising certificate fees, after the board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority this week approved a new regime for meeting the costs of regulation.

The new regime, which will come into force this October, will see a 40%-60% split between individuals and firms. An individual solicitor is likely to pay £511 for a PC fee, with the only discount available being a 50% reduction for those on maternity. The SRA has yet to set the turnover bands that will determine the firm-based fee.

Individual solicitors – including local government solicitors – will have to pay £9 to the Compensation Fund, while entities holding client money will contribute £140.

The 40%-60% will see a shift in fee burden of approximately 15% – or £16m – from in-house onto private practice firms. The SRA has left open the possibility for this split to be phased lower over time – both Solicitors in Local Government and the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors have argued that a 20%-80% split was more appropriate.

The ‘winners’ under the new regime include in-house lawyers, whether in local government or commerce and industry. Those most likely to see a greater burden are firms with few PC holders but a high turnover.

Maria Memoli, Law Society Council member for local government, said the new regime finally recognises a fairer system for charging solicitors for their practising certificates.

Hailing the move as “a landmark”, Memoli said: “To my knowledge, local government solicitors have not had a call on the Compensation Fund. My argument has always been: why should the ordinary taxpayer pay for the regulation of bad solicitors?

“Solicitors in local government are accountable to their public, and their employers, who in turn are accountable to central government. We are highly regulated in our own right – local authorities being creatures of statute.”