In December, Sir Christopher Bellamy’s Independent Review of Criminal Legal Aid recommended at least £135m extra per year be added to the budget to keep the criminal justice system functioning effectively. This would increase funding for solicitors and barristers by 15% above present levels, amounting to an extra £35m in fees.
The Ministry of Justice said it would issue its full response to the review and consultation by the end of March 2022.
In his ‘Monday Message’ this week, however, CBA chair Jo Sidhu QC says he ‘made it abundantly clear’ at a meeting on 15 December with the under-secretary of state for justice that it would be ‘utterly unacceptable for the Criminal Bar to wait another 15 weeks to hear the government’s verdict’ with any ensuing consultation meaning the outcome would not be known until the end of June.
Sidhu described the proposed ‘modest increase’ as ‘an insultingly small improvement in annual incomes’ that would do nothing to discourage hundreds more colleagues from leaving legal aid work.
The CBA survey asks whether the respondent agrees: it is unreasonable for the government to delay its response until the end of March; that unless the government undertakes to complete both its response and consultation by the end of March, criminal barristers should ‘take action to include, as a minimum, no returns’; an increase of £35m (15%) is insufficient; and criminal barristers should take action unless the government commits to a ‘substantial increase’.
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