The cost of seeing a lawyer is expected to rise with the disclosure that estimates for setting up a new legal complaints scheme have soared to nearly £50 million.

The Lord Chancellor is proposing new machinery to regulate the legal profession and handle thousands of complaints from the public a year. But the estimated cost of creating the new system for policing lawyers has nearly doubled, The Times has learnt.

On top of this, it could cost another £25 million a year to run the proposed new office for legal complaints.

The increased cost, which would be passed to consumers in higher legal fees, is likely to fuel a revolt against the reforms in the Legal Services Bill when they come before the House of Lords today.

For the first time the overhaul puts all lawyers under a single outside regulator and creates a new single-door complaints office.

Originally, ministers estimated that the overhaul would cost about £26.8 million, although they admitted that the figures were “indicative rather than statistically robust”. But since then, revised estimates show that the true set-up cost could be as much as £46 milllion.

A key factor for the soaring costs is said to be the failure in initial estimates to take into account VAT adding another £5 million.

The reforms now face a revolt by peers demanding key changes in the Bill or they will push the measures to a vote.

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