Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether it is her policy to implement in full all of the recommendations of the Bellamy Review of Criminal Legal Aid.

The previous Government commissioned the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review (CLAIR), chaired by Lord Bellamy KC, to provide analysis of the criminal legal aid system and explore the ways in which the Government could ensure its long-term sustainability. This Government continues to keep the Review’s findings under consideration as we look at options for reform in the criminal legal aid sector.

For example, in November 2024, in response to the Crime Lower consultation, we announced fee uplifts totalling £24 million. That included £18.5 million to uplift police station fee schemes to begin the process of removing financial disparities between police station schemes to establish uniformity, meaning most police station fee schemes in the same region attract one fixed fee as recommended by CLAIR.

We also introduced a separate Youth Court fee scheme, responding to CLAIR’s recommendation for the importance of youth work to be reflected. We invested £5.1 million, enhancing fees for the most serious cases. This will help to reduce the disparity between the Youth and Crown Courts by prioritising cases that would be paid at the Crown Court rates if the defendant were an adult.

In December 2024, we announced that criminal legal aid solicitors will receive up to £92 million more a year to help address the ongoing challenges in the criminal justice system. This is in addition to the £24 million and will take the total uplift in funding for criminal legal aid solicitor fees since CLAIR to 24%.

The previous Government established the Criminal Legal Aid Advisory Board (CLAAB) in October 2022. This followed the CLAIR recommendation that an advisory board be created to encourage a more joined-up approach to criminal legal aid within the criminal justice system. CLAAB published its first annual report in November 2024 which the Government is considering and Ministers remain committed to working with the sector, including representatives from the solicitor and barrister professions, on further opportunities for reform.