Law Society warns SRA funding plans could place further strain on solicitors and firms
The Law Society of England and Wales has expressed serious concerns about proposed funding increases set out in the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) 2026–2027 business plan.
The representative body for solicitors said the proposed increase would place additional financial pressure on firms and individual practitioners already facing rising costs and significant regulatory burdens.
The SRA’s consultation outlines a substantial increase in funding to support what it describes as a one-year “reset”. The proposal is now subject to consideration by the Legal Services Board (LSB), which must decide whether to approve the increase.
Law Society President Mark Evans said the LSB should carefully consider the implications of the proposal. He argued that the planned practising certificate (PC) fee increase is intended largely to fund remedial action to address issues that have arisen within the regulator itself.
Evans stated that any increase should be no greater than necessary and should deliver measurable and lasting improvements at the SRA. He said success should be demonstrated through improvements in effectiveness, consistency and trust, supported by independent assessment of the regulator’s progress.
Under the proposals, the SRA is seeking a 29% increase in its overall funding requirement, taking it to £111.5 million. The plan would increase the SRA portion of the individual practising certificate fee from £190 to £240. It would also result in higher compensation fund contributions, partly driven by recent firm failures, including the Axiom scandal, which the Law Society said the SRA failed to identify until it was too late.
The Law Society said it had received strong feedback from across the profession regarding both the proposed practising certificate fee increase and the compensation fund levy.
Evans warned that cumulative financial pressures could have a particularly significant impact on smaller firms and those operating in lower-margin areas of practice, including legal aid providers. He said these pressures could affect market sustainability, consumers of legal services and access to justice.
The Law Society called on the SRA to consider targeted fee reductions for legal aid firms as a means of supporting continued access to legal services.
The organisation also welcomed the SRA’s decision to discontinue its work on taking over the regulation of Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX) professionals. Evans described the initiative as a distraction from the regulator’s core responsibilities and said the Law Society had opposed the proposal from the outset.
In its response, the Law Society further urged the SRA to prioritise high-risk issues, improve consistency in decision-making, address delays in investigations and strengthen confidence in the regulator. It said any increase in funding should be accompanied by meaningful cultural and operational improvements rather than becoming a basis for repeated year-on-year increases.