Solicitors could face an increase in the practising certificate (PC) fee, which is to be discussed later this month, the Gazette understands.

Following inquiries from the Gazette, the Law Society confirmed that an increase ‘looks likely’. However, chief executive Des Hudson stressed that any increase would not be the result of a rise in spending by the Society, but would be attributable to ‘external forces’.

He said: ‘The Law Society is working hard to keep the PC fee as low as possible. We are freezing the Law Society budget for 2009/2010 and we hope the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Legal Complaints Service will follow suit.

‘Any other increase will be driven by external pressures such as the fall in numbers of PC fee holders and the set up costs and overheads at the Office for Legal Complaints and Legal Services Board.’

An increase in the level of fee is understood to be on the agenda of the next meeting of the Law Society Council on 22 July.

The current practising certificate fee for solicitors is £995. Any increase would be particularly unwelcome among large City firms which are already seeing a fall in profits. The biggest firms pay practising certificates for around 1,000 solicitors.