The Law Society Council today approved a reduction in the individual practising certificate fee for next year of 23%, reflecting the ‘reduced funding requirement’ of the Law Society Group.

The individual PC fee will drop from £428 to £328 to reflect the £94.8m net funding requirement for 2012, compared to the £121.7m funding requirement this year.

Fees paid by solicitors' firms will also fall 23%.

Practising fees meet the costs of regulation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, much of the Law Society's work as a professional body, and levies the Society must pay towards the costs of the Legal Services Board, the Legal Ombudsman and the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

The Council also approved the SRA board’s recommendation to raise contributions to the Compensation Fund by £13.5m for 2011/12.

Individual Compensation Fund contributions will be £60 in 2012, while firms will pay £770.

Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said: ‘The closure of our defined benefit pension scheme, together with the benefits of the investments made over the last few years in systems and a major cost reduction and efficiency programme, have enabled the Society to make a significant reduction in the PC fee for next year.

‘It is our intention to continue to contain the costs of the Law Society in the coming years.’