Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Paragraph: 34
The lack of any increase to criminal legal aid fees for solicitors over the past...
Conclusion
The lack of any increase to criminal legal aid fees for solicitors over the past 20 years needs to be addressed. Sir Christopher Bellamy’s current review, commissioned by the Government, gives an opportunity to do this. Thereafter, fees and rates should be regularly reviewed in line with inflation, otherwise the gap will build up over time and become harder to address.
Paragraph Reference:
34
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
In September 2020, we injected up to £51m per annum into the criminal legal aid system, through payments for reviewing unused material and sending cases to the Crown Court. From this, litigators are estimated to have received additional funding of £17m - £24m per annum. In 2019–20, there were 1,220 solicitor firms in receipt of criminal legal aid fee income. In addition, the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review’s Terms of Reference include a section on ‘fee review’ considering whether a mechanism to review fees might ensure they are flexible, can adapt to changing market conditions, encourage new providers to enter the market and incentivise providers to continuously improve the quality of their services. We will address this issue in our response to his review and have committed to responding to the Review’s final report before the end of 2021.