(1 day, 5 hours ago)
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The Minister for Courts and Legal Services (Sarah Sackman)
Today I am laying before Parliament the Government’s response to the consultation “Criminal Legal Aid: proposals for solicitor fee scheme reform”.
Criminal legal aid lawyers play a crucial role in our justice system, taking on some of the most complex cases that go through our courts and ensuring the most vulnerable people in society can access justice. The consultation invited responses to fee scheme proposals that would allocate an additional £92 million per annum investment once fully implemented.
The consultation paper was published on 9 May 2025, with proposals that covered work carried out by legal aid providers at police stations, in magistrates’ courts, in the Crown Court, and in prisons.
After considering the responses, we have decided to implement the majority of the proposals put forward. These involve harmonising police station fees, a 10% increase to magistrates’ courts fees—including youth court fees—and a 24% increase to fees for work done in prisons. In line with our initial proposals, we will also increase some litigators’ graduated fee scheme trial basic fees for the lowest paid offences and will introduce a fixed ratio between guilty plea, cracked trial and trial basic fees.
As a result of some of the responses we received during the consultation period, we will be making some changes to our final proposals, so that we can ensure these measures support providers as effectively as possible. We have amended the escape fee threshold in the police station fee scheme to enable more cases to qualify for the fee, and we will additionally uplift fees for all solicitors’ appeals work by 10%.
This significant investment, once fully implemented, means that criminal legal aid solicitors will have received a 24% overall uplift in funding since the criminal legal aid independent review. This investment will support a stronger and more sustainable legal aid sector—one that is fit for the future and retains the brightest and the best practitioners. It is part of this Government’s plan for change to ensure justice is done and our streets are safe.
We announced these fee uplifts in December 2024, before the Legal Aid Agency was subject to a cyber security incident in mid-2025. The LAA has swiftly responded with comprehensive measures designed to maintain access to justice and protect provider cash flow during system disruption. Throughout this disruption, we remain committed to delivering these important uplifts for the sector. We are pleased that we remain on track to deliver on our commitment to invest in the legal aid system.
We intend to bring forward statutory instruments to amend the Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013 to reflect the changes and fee increases. Our intention is that the first statutory instrument will come into force from 22 December 2025. This will cover the crime lower fee increases set out in our response, relating to work in police stations, magistrates’ courts, prisons and for some appeals work. A second statutory instrument will be laid as soon as the required changes to uplift fees can be delivered through Legal Aid Agency digital systems. This will cover the crime higher fee increases set out in our response, relating to the LGFS and remaining areas of appeals work.
As well as our investment in criminal legal aid, the Government are also today announcing implementation of our fee uplifts for immigration and housing controlled work in civil legal aid confirmed earlier in the year.
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