The Legal Services Board (LSB) has approved a 12 per cent hike in regulatory costs for Barristers, according to reports.
Barristers will now be required to pay ‘up to £200 more per year’ for practising certificates, with the extra funds raised expected to chime in at around £1.3million per year.
Reports suggest that those earning more than £240,000 per year will pay £198 more, while those earning less than £30,000 will pay around £13 more.
A report from the LSB estimates that there are around 15,800 practising barristers in the UK, 2,562 of which are earning more than £240,000 per year, while the majority of barristers (3,412) earn between £90,000 and £150,000 per year. These figures do not differentiate between employed and self-employed Barristers.
The LSB has said that the £1.3m raised will go towards ‘plugging a deficit’ in the Bar Council’s pension pot, following plans first proposed in November last year, shortly after the Council’s now-defunct defined benefit pension scheme spiralled into debt.
LSB chief executive Neil Buckle said: “We will continue to have a close focus on regulatory costs and our view is that these should be going down, not up.
“Where opportunities for savings and efficiencies are identified and realised, we expect to see these reflected in future applications”.
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