The Solicitors Regulation Authority board has asked officials to rethink this year’s proposed compensation fund contributions.

As the Gazette reports today, a paper considered by the board at its monthly public meeting, in Birmingham, recommended that solicitors holding client money contribute £470 in 2009/10, up from £150 last year.

However, officers were asked to reconsider and propose a ‘minimum’ figure that would be workable, together with a second option - a ‘desired level’. The figures will identify the risks involved, balancing them against the anticipated depletion of reserves.

Board members were advised not to recommend too low a figure since this may result in the profession being asked for a second payment mid-year. The fund is facing a sharp rise in claims, partly resulting from a steep increase in the number of practice interventions.

Board member Eddie Solomons said: ‘Our function in this exercise is to protect the public interest. I suspect that the low figure would be the minimum regulatory need. There are powerful arguments why [a] larger figure is needed.’

Fellow member Jonathon Spencer said: ‘The figure we should recommend is the one that keeps the fund solvent. If we needed to make a second claim we do not know how quickly that money will come in.’

Board member Andrew Long said: ‘A second contribution is a route we do not want to go down.’

The paper will be redrafted and a formal recommendation made to the Law Society Council for a final decision next month.