£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.
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police station and youth court fee schemes outdated and not reflective of the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.
