Post Office: Inquiry set to report this year
The cost of practising as a barrister is set to rise by 8.5%, in part to finance the investigations into counsel involved in the Post Office scandal.
The Bar Council is currently consulting on proposals to boost the amount of money it raises from the practising certificate fee (PCF) to nearly £25m, with most of the increase earmarked for the Bar Standards Board (BSB).
The Bar Council’s total income for 2025/26 is forecast at £30.7m, with an estimated surplus of £585,000, although this does not include the estimated £277,000 cost of the recent increase in National Insurance.
The BSB will receive 74% of PCF income, up from 72% in the current year. The Bar Council will retain the rest for ‘permitted purposes’, which are non-regulatory activities whose cost the Legal Services Act allows representative bodies to levy on their profession, such as law reform and practice management advice.
The consultation paper said: “The increase in PCF remains high largely due to the BSB’s reform and re-organisation programme and non-recurrent costs relating to the Post Office investigations.”
With Sir Wyn Williams set to issue his findings following the Post Office inquiry this year, the focus will shift to what happens to those he criticises, including solicitors and barristers.
The Bar Council said that it had been able to limit PCF increases during Covid and the period of high inflation due to a £5m coronavirus business interruption loan scheme loan it took out and using funds previously earmarked for its pension deficit recovery plan.
“We have now fully depleted those options (and repaid the loan). In order to keep financially stable and maintain a satisfactory level of reserves, the proposed increase in PCF for 2025/26 will amount to 8.5%.”
The PCF is charged based on barrister’s annual income and the increase will be applied equally across all bands.
In total, PCF income will increase by 12.6%, with the other 4.1% coming from there being more barristers than a year earlier and barristers moving up the bands.
The increase should see the BSB achieve a break-even budget and no longer rely on reserves, the consultation said.
The BSB has begun a major reform programme in the wake of sustained criticism by the Legal Services Board of its operations and the recommendations of a report it commissioned on shortcomings in its enforcement processes.
The consultation said most of the extra money for the regulator would go on recruiting 13 more staff – taking the total to 132 full-time equivalents – and also increasing pay as part of the continuing five-year plan to salary levels to the median of other regulators.
“The increase in staff salaries has had a lasting and positive impact both on voluntary turnover rates and on the BSB’s ability to fill vacancies,” the paper said.
“In September 2022, prior to our reward reforms, the voluntary turnover (resignation) rate stood at 20% p.a. As at September 2024, resignation rates have reduced to 4% p.a.
“This reduction in turnover rates is not solely attributable to our pay reforms, as there have been changes in the overall economy and recruitment market since 2022.
“However, our exit interview data from both 2021 and 2022 shows that pay was the most significant factor impacting on decisions to leave the organisation at that time.”
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