Criminal legal aid: Government responds to Bellamy review
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) published its long-awaited full response to the criminal legal aid independent review in December 2022, a year after Lord Bellamy KC, who has since joined the MoJ as its House of Lords minister, delivered his findings.
Addressing the call for new funding to shore up the sector, the government announced the final details of fee rises. Solicitors will see an 11% increase – short of the 15% recommended by the review – and in all, solicitors will receive an extra £85m. This incorporates changes to police station fees (£16m) and youth court fees (£5m) adding £21m to existing increases. Barristers will see an extra £43m and there will also be an additional £11m for expert fees to “eventually” be paid each year.
The police station fees scheme will be reformed over the next three years to reflect the amount of time spent on cases, while in 2024, the MoJ will set out a new litigators’ graduated fee scheme for Crown Court work.
Lord Chancellor Dominic Raab said: “We are reforming criminal legal aid so our lawyers are fairly paid for the vital work they do delivering high-quality legal support for those who need it.
“We have taken on board the recommendations of the independent review and are modernising the system to deliver justice for victims now and in the future.”
CILEX Chair Professor Chris Bones said the response was “a step in the right direction given the need for investment and reform to ensure that the underpinning principles of our justice system are retained, and the sector attracts and retains the best legal talent”.
An advisory board has been established with a view to providing independent advice to the Lord Chancellor on the operation and structure of the existing and future criminal legal aid schemes and to assess how these schemes should evolve as the criminal justice system changes and develops. It met for the first time last October.
While the new board will play an important role, it will not provide a fee-review function, an option previously suggested by CILEX as “an optimum mechanism for regularly assessing any related amendments and uplifts”.
Recognising the valuable role of CILEX Lawyers in the sector, the Bellamy review included a recommendation that the anomaly actively preventing suitably qualified CILEX Lawyers from being recognised by the Criminal Litigation Accreditation Scheme be resolved.
The government’s final response included a continued commitment to removing these barriers and making it easier for appropriately qualified CILEX Lawyers to take on more police station work.
Professor Bones said CILEX “looked forward to entering further discussions with the Legal Aid Agency and the Law Society with a view to aiding wider understanding of how members can be recognised in the legal aid scheme. Suitably qualified CILEX professionals are equivalent to solicitors in their chosen area of law when it comes to skills, expertise and professionalism, and it is high time the artificial barriers placed in their way are removed”.