The Law Society has increased the practising certificate (PC) fee for 2009-10 by nearly 20%, citing rising regulation costs and falling numbers in the profession.

Chancery Lane said the 18.6% rise in the cost of the PC to £1,180 was the result of one-off spending on the Legal Services Board (LSB) and the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) – bodies being created as part of the Legal Services Act.

In addition, the Law Society said it had to make up for a projected 5% fall in practising certificate holders.

The rise will increase the budgeted PC fee income from £106m in 2009 to £122m in 2010, an increase of £16m annually.

From the fees, the Law Society will see £256, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) will see £492 and the Legal Complaints Services (LCS) will receive £281.

The Law Society said the rise, which will increase the PC costs of large UK law firms by more than £100,000 a year, was justified after it froze its 2010 budget at 2009 levels after cutting it by 5% last year, when the PC was £995.

Chief executive Des Hudson said that the Law Society would aim to drive down the fees paid by solicitors once the LSB and OLC were put in place.

Hudson said: "The increase in the fees has been driven by external pressures alone and the set-up costs and overheads at the OLC and LSB, both established by the Legal Services Act as well as the fall in numbers of PC fee holders.

"Regulation, complaints-handling and support services account for by far the majority of the PC fee. We are taking every step that is available to us to minimise the costs for the society and in turn the burden on the profession."

Hudson also said the rise was "highly undesirable but entirely unavoidable".

The Law Society is also calling on the SRA and LCS to follow suit with regards to freezing their budgets.

However, the sharp rise in the cost of the PC, which all practising solicitors must hold, could prove controversial coming as the UK is gripped by the sharpest economic downturn for at least 25 years.

Evidence of the projected 5% fall in PC holders will also be seen as significant, as the number of practising solicitors in the England and Wales has been steadily rising annually since the 1970s.

Denton Wilde Sapte chief executive Howard Morris told Legal Week: "It's most unhelpful. There are firms out there which are really struggling and no-one welcomes a 20% increase."