Subject to subsection (2), there shall be paid to the Society in respect of each practising certificate to be issued by it, before the certificate is issued, such fee as the Master of the Rolls, with the concurrence of the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice, may from time to time by order determine.

An order under subsection (1) may specify reduced fees for practising certificates in such circumstances as may be so specified.

Subsection (2B) applies where an order under subsection (1) specifies a reduced fee in the case of a solicitor whose income, from his practice as a solicitor, is, during such period as may be so specified, less than an amount so specified.

The question whether, for the purposes of any such order, the income of a solicitor during the specified period falls below the specified amount shall be determined in accordance with regulations made by the Master of the Rolls with the concurrence of the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice.

All fees received by the Society under subsection (1) shall be applied in such manner as the Society may think fit for the purposes of the Society, including facilitating the acquisition of legal knowledge.

The Society shall submit annually to the judges mentioned in subsection (1) an account of all such fees and of their application and shall cause a copy of the account to be deposited at the Society’s hall for inspection by any solicitor.