SRA renewals and fees
Important changes
By 31 October 2010, you need to renew your
- practising certificates (PCs),
- European and foreign lawyer registrations,
- recognised body recognition,
- authorisation for recognised sole practitioners.
If we have not received your renewal application by 31 October, we have the power to revoke your individual PC or registration and your firm's recognition—on a date of our choice.
You need to be aware of important changes in the renewals process this year. To learn about the changes, read on—or follow the links on the right.
In brief
Recognised bodies and recognised sole practitioners, and individuals who work with them
- We will send out your Renewal Form RF1 in September 2010.
- We are cutting your individual practising fee (PC or registration) by more than 50 per cent from 2009/10.
- Your firm's practising fee (recognition/authorisation fee) will be based on your firm's turnover.
- If your firm holds client money, your firm's compensation fund contribution is £120.
- Your individual compensation fund contribution is £10.
In-house solicitors
- You will receive the same form as you received in October 2009 (RF1, RF3, RF4 or RF7).
- Form RF1 has been revised to accommodate all of the entity types we regulate.
- We are cutting your individual practising fee (PC or registration) by more than 50 per cent from 2009/10.
- Your individual compensation fund contribution is £10.
Fees – what you will pay
This year, the SRA is changing the way the costs of regulation are allocated across the profession. We are implementing a fairer fee system. The new fees have now been set, and consist of
- a reduced individual practising fee (PC fee),
- a firm fee, and
- compensation fund contributions (individual and firm).
The fee levels for 2010/11, agreed by the Legal Services Board, are as follows:
- Individual practising fee (PC fee) – £428
- Firm practising fee (including recognised sole practitioners) – based on turnover (view turnover bands)
- Individual compensation fund contribution – £10
- Firm compensation fund contribution (payable by all firms holding client money) – £120
To calculate your total fees, please use our online fee calculator.
To better reflect regulatory activity, our new fees policy entails a shift
- from collecting the costs of regulation solely through the individual practising fee (PC fee), charged to individual solicitors, registered European lawyers (RELs) and registered foreign lawyers (RFLs),
- to collecting approximately 40 per cent of the cost from individuals and 60 percent from firms (i.e., recognised bodies and recognised sole practitioners).
To learn more about our new fees policy, visit www.sra.org.uk/fees.
More about our new, fairer, fee system
Renewal form for firms (including recognised bodies and recognised sole practitioners)
This year, there will be one, combined Form RF1 for renewals
- for firms to renew the practising certificates/registrations of individuals working in them,
- for firms to renew their recognition or authorisation, and
- for firms to pay their firm-based fees.
Form RF1 will be sent out to firms in September 2010.
In October 2009, we introduced annual renewal for recognised bodies and recognised sole practitioners. This was a result of the introduction of the SRA Recognised Bodies Regulations and SRA Practising Regulations, which came into force on 31 March 2009 and 1 July 2009, respectively.
Last year, recognised bodies and recognised sole practitioners were required to renew their recognition/authorisation on a separate renewal form to their application(s)for PCs/registrations.
Having reviewed last year's process and feedback from the profession, we are pleased to confirm that this year there is one renewal form—Form RF1—to renew your firm's PCs/registrations and recognition or authorisation.
Form RF1
We regulate a variety of firm types including
- recognised body partnerships,
- recognised body limited liability partnerships (LLP),
- recognised body companies, and
- recognised sole practitioners.
We also regulate individuals who work within organisations that are not required to be recognised by the SRA.
Form RF1 for 2010/11 has been updated to accommodate all of the various entity types referred to above. Form RF1 will be sent out in September 2010.
If you are a recognised sole practitioner and have previously renewed your PC/registration using an RF3 or RF7, this year you will be sent an RF1—as this is the only form available to renew your authorisation to practise as a recognised sole practitioner.
When we send out Form RF1, up-to-date guidance notes—to help you complete the form—will be available on our website. At that time, please visit www.sra.org.uk/RF1.
Individual application forms (RF3, RF4, RF7 and REG3) will be sent to any
- solicitors,
- registered European lawyers (RELs), and
- registered foreign lawyers (RFLs)
who have previously opted for an individual application form. These forms will be sent out in September 2010.
Form REG3
Form REG3 is applicable to
If you fall into one of the above categories, you are required to notify us of your intention to apply for a PC/registration by completing and returning a Form REG3.
Please note that a Form REG3 must be sent to us before and in addition to your application form for a PC/registration.
If we are aware that you are subject to regulation 3.1, or that you are required to notify us under regulation 6.2, we already will have sent you a Form REG3.
If you have not received a Form REG3 from us but you do fall into one of the above two categories, please visit www.sra.org.uk/REG3 to download a form and guidance notes.
Changes to the regulations
The SRA Practising Regulations 2009 and the SRA Recognised Bodies Regulations 2009 were amended on 14 July 2010 as part of our implementation of a fairer fee structure.
The key changes are as follows:
- A power for the SRA to make a final determination of the fees to be paid by a recognised sole practitioner or a recognised body
- A power for the SRA to provide a fee-moderation process and charge an application fee for the process either through the PC fee (in the case of a recognised sole practitioner) or as an additional fee (in the case of a recognised body)
- A requirement for firms involved in acquisitions, mergers or splits to deliver to the SRA a “Notice of Succession” identifying the affected firms and any agreed reallocation of the historical turnover figures between the affected firms
View amendments to the SRA Practising Regulations 2009 and the SRA Recognised Bodies Regulations 2009 with recent changes highlighted.
Incomplete applications
31 October deadline
Please note the importance to provide all of the information requested in your renewal application form prior to the regulatory deadline, 31 October 2010.
If you do not provide all of the information requested, your application may be considered incomplete and therefore unable to be processed. Please refer to regulations 1.1 of the SRA Practising Regulations 2009 and SRA Recognised Bodies Regulations 2009.
Your status as a recognised body/recognised sole practitioner, solicitor, REL or RFL could be affected if not all of the information is provided.
Email addresses
Please check that the email address details pre-printed on the renewal forms we send you are right. If they are wrong, please cross them out and provide the correct address(es).
If we do not have your current email address on record, you will miss out on important information that we send by email. Whenever possible, we choose to use email to communicate with you—to keep costs down and to help protect the environment.