Cost of regulation

The CLSB is funded through the collection of practising fees from regulated Costs Lawyers. Approval must be obtained from the Legal Services Board for the level of the practising fee each year. Practising fees are separate to any membership fees charged by the Association of Costs Lawyers.

The practising fee includes a levy payable by all professionals regulated under the Legal Services Act 2007 – including Costs Lawyers – to fund the activities of the Legal Services Board and the Legal Ombudsman.

Year Practising fee % change
2012 £250 0%
2013 £250 0%
2014 £250 0%
2015 £250 0%
2016 £250 0%
2017 £250 0%
2018 £250 0%
2019 £250 0%
2020 £275 10%
2021 £275 0%
2022 £281 2%
2023 £281 0%
2024 £290 3%

The LSB recovers its annual operating costs under The Legal Services Act 2007 (Levy) (No. 2) Rules 2010. The contribution payable by the CLSB toward those annual operating costs is determined by the number of regulated Costs Lawyers at 1 April each year.

Year LSB levy Amount per
Costs Lawyer
1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 £13,189 411 CL = £32.09
1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013 £16,164 565 CL = £28.61
1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014 £14,280 563 CL = £25.36
1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015 £13,860 562 CL = £24.66
1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016 £12,936 598 CL = £21.63
1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017 £12,008 632 CL = £19.00
1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018 £11,699 620 CL = £18.87
1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019 £13,381 662 CL = £20.21
1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 £14,538 684 CL = £21.25
1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 £14,960 682 CL = £21.94
1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 £15,047 681 CL = £22.10
1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 £15,712 689 CL = £22.80
1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 £16,791 694 CL = £24.19
Year Number of Costs Lawyers at 1 April Income Expenditure Net reserves at 31 December*
2013 563 £142,901 £113,651 £35,000
2014 562 £147,488 £132,637 £45,000
2015 598 £157,197 £116,661 £65,000
2016 632 £163,406 £155,567 £85,000
2017 620 £167,519 £150,028 £94,941
2018 662 £178,313 £153,916 £104,864
2019 684 £176,863 £223,669 £95,408
2020 682 £196,486 £153,470 £115,561
2021 681 £190,188 £189,839 £120,792
2022 689 £197,766 £176,439 £127,251

*In accordance with the CLSB’s Reserves Policy

Year CEO remuneration Chair remuneration Board member day rate
2013 £46,350 (from 1/10/11) £6,000 (from 31/10/11) £250 (from 31/10/11)
2014 £46,350 (from 1/10/11) £6,000 (from 31/10/11) £250 (from 31/10/11)
2015 £48,108 (from 1/4/15) £6,240 (from 1/4/15) £269 (from 1/4/15)
2016 £61,724 (from 1/3/16) £7,000 (from 1/2/16)
£7,245 (from 1/4/16)
£320 (from 12/7/16)
2017 £62,960 (from 1/3/17) £7,390 (from 1/3/17) £327 (from 1/3/17)
2018 £65,164 (from 1/3/18) £7,649 (from 1/3/18) £338.45 (from 1/3/18)
2019 £66,598 (from 1/3/19)
£36,750 (from 10/6/19)*
£7,818 (from 1/3/19) £346 (from 1/3/19)
2020 £37,467 (from 1/3/20)
£44,960 (from 1/7/20)*
£7,970 (from 1/3/20) £353 (from 1/3/20)
2021 £45,500 (from 1/3/21) £8,000 (from 1/3/21) £357 (from 1/3/21)
2022 £46,865 (from 1/3/22) £8,240 (from 1/3/22) £368 (from 1/3/22)
2023 £49,677 (from 1/3/23) £8,734 (from 1/3/23) £390 (from 1/3/23)
2024 £52,161 (from 1/3/24) £9,171 (from 1/3/24) £409 (from 1/3/24)

* New CEO employed under part-time contract – 2.5 days a week. 3 days per week from 1/7/20. The figure stated is the employee equivalent, excluding National Insurance contributions etc.

You can find more details about our income and expenditure in our latest financial accounts.

The contribution payable by the CLSB toward the operating costs of LeO is determined by the number of service complaints about Costs Lawyer received by LeO each year. Since 2014, there has been a minimum levy of £5,000.

Year LeO levy Amount per Costs Lawyer
1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 £1,211 411 CL = £2.95
1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013 £1,135 565 CL = £2.01
1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014 £1,043 563 CL = £1.85
1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015 £5,000 562 CL = £8.90
1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016 £5,000 598 CL = £8.36
1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017 £5,000 632 CL = £7.91
1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018 £5,000 620 CL = £8.06
1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019 £5,000 662 CL = £7.55
1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 £5,000 684 CL = £7.31
1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 £5,000 682 CL = £7.33
1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 £5,000 681 CL = £7.34
1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 £5,000 689 CL = £7.26
1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 £5,000 694 CL = £7.20
Year Paid  
Set up contribution £400  
2014 – 2015 £240  
2015 – 2016 £288  
2016 – 2017 £363  
1 November 2017 to 31 October 2018 £4,000  
1 November 2018 to 31 October 2019 £5,000  
1 November 2019 to 31 October 2020 £6,025  
1 November 2020 to 31 October 2021 £5,800  
1 November 2021 to 31 October 2022 £5,800  
1 November 2022 to 31 October 2023 £5,800  

Legal Choices
is a collaboration between the legal services regulators in England and Wales. You can find more information about the success of the project to date in the Legal Choices Summary Report for 2017 – 2020. Information about progress against the development strategy for 2020 to 2023 can be found in the Year 1 Report.