FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, 1 June 2016
LSB revises PCF rules to increase transparency
The Legal Services Board (LSB) today published revised Practising Certificate Fee (PCF) rules, and supporting guidance for approved regulators, following an eight-week consultation.
Practising fees are paid to an approved regulator for the cost of regulation and for some non-regulatory activities. An approved regulator may only require the payment of a practising fee if the LSB has approved the level of that fee.
The changes outlined today are to:
- Rule 10 of the PCF Rules which sets out the criteria against which the LSB will assess any application for approval of a PCF, and
- Rule 11 which describes the evidence that the LSB will require when considering an application against the criteria when an increase in PCF is proposed.
Following the consultation, the LSB has made one further change. It is to make clear that the approved regulator must provide clarity and transparency on the use of financial resources to ensure that the LSB has all the information it needs to assess impact on the level of the fee.
The Legal Services Board’s Chief Executive Neil Buckley said:
"The Legal Services Board believes strongly in the importance of transparency in relation to regulatory costs. We use our oversight role to help control and where possible reduce costs to both the profession and to the public.
The Practising Certificate fee (PCF) rules are there not just to help the LSB assess applications relating to the level of the PCF but also to contain requirements that ensure approved regulators are clear about the proposed fees and the budgets that determine them.
As the LSB’s cost of regulation project identified, improved levels of financial transparency by the regulators could help address low awareness amongst legal services providers about the cost of regulation.
We believe that the emphasis in these revised rules on providing clarity on financial resources is an important factor in helping the LSB make decisions on fee levels."
ENDS
For further information, please contact the LSB’s Communications Manager, Vincent McGovern (020 7271 0068).
Notes for editors:
- The changes to rules made under section 51 of the Legal Services Act 2007 [practising certificate fees (PCF)] decision document and the various responses to the consultation can be found here (see under 11 February).
- The revised Practising Fee Rules 2016 can be found here.
- The Legal Services Act 2007 (the Act) created the LSB as a new regulator with responsibility for overseeing the regulation of legal services in England and Wales. The new regulatory regime became active on 1 January 2010.
- The LSB oversees nine approved regulators, which in turn regulate individual legal practitioners. The approved regulators, designated under Part 1 of Schedule 4 of the 2007 Act, are the Law Society, the General Council of the Bar, the Master of the Faculties, the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys, the Association of Costs Lawyers and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
In addition, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants are listed as approved regulators in relation only to reserved probate activities.
- As at 1 April 2015, the legal profession comprised 142,109 solicitors, 326 alternative business structures, 15,237 barristers, 7,848 chartered legal executives and 5,678 other individuals operating in other areas of the legal profession such as conveyancing. The sector is valued at £32 billion per annum (2015) which is up 23% in cash terms since 2012. For more information see here.