£16m will be used to increase fees for duty solicitor work in police stations, and the fee scheme simplified by raising the lowest charges, according to the eight-week Ministry of Justice (MoJ) consultation published this week, Crime lower: criminal legal aid.
Currently, fixed fees for police station work vary by geographic area, with 245 different fees across England and Wales. The fees were set in 2008, based on the average cost then of a case in each area.
The consultation proposes two options for harmonising the fee schemes. The first is to increase 174 schemes to £225.63 (excl VAT), with no rise for fee schemes above this amount (all 32 London schemes and 39 non-London schemes are above this amount). The second, and the MoJ’s preferred option, is to increase 173 non-London schemes to £223.52 (excl VAT) and 26 London schemes to £264,45 (excl VAT).
Youth court fees for the most serious offences will be raised by £548 per case, accounting for £5.1m of additional funds.
The funding comes from £21.1m per year allocated to longer-term reforms from the financial year 2024-2025, as part of the MoJ’s response to the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review (CLAIR). The CLAIR, which reported in 2021, found the police station and youth court fee schemes outdated and not reflective of the complexity of work involved. This week’s consultation addresses how the £21.1m is distributed.
The fee rises apply to new work from summer 2024.
Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk said duty solicitors ‘play a critical role in ensuring access to justice by giving people legal advice, often at antisocial hours and at a moment’s notice’£548 (not inc. VAT) fee increase in the Youth Court.
However, Law Society president Nick Emmerson said the extra money was ‘a small step in the right direction’ but ‘still leaves the increased expenditure below that identified by Lord Bellamy as “the minimum necessary”… Moreover, the impact of these increases, including those announced [this week] has been wiped out by inflation’.
The consultation ends on 28 March.
