Criminal legal aid solicitors working in police stations and youth courts will receive a pay increase to reflect the importance and complexity of their work, the Lord Chancellor has announced today.
The proposals are part of the Government’s second phase of the response to the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review (CLAIR), with the additional funding allocated in 2022.
The review found that existing police station and Youth Court fee schemes are outdated and no longer reflect the complexity of the work carried out by today’s legal profession, creating unfairness and disincentivising legal practitioners from taking on more complicated cases.
Currently, fees do not appropriately differentiate between case complexity meaning a lawyer spending 30 minutes on a shoplifting case and five hours on a murder trial would likely receive the same fixed fee for both jobs.
The fee system is also outdated as it involves solicitors navigating over 200 different fees across England and Wales, each representing a different police station location with the pay-out for neighbouring stations varying widely. This means solicitors can receive vastly different amounts in similar areas for working on similar cases.
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Alex Chalk said:
“Solicitors working in police stations play a critical role in ensuring access to justice by giving people legal advice, often at antisocial hours and at a moment’s notice. It is right that they receive a substantial pay increase to reflect the importance and complexity of their work.
“This longer-term investment will also help ensure solicitors are paid more fairly in the Youth Court with the enhanced fee helping to recruit and retain solicitors who do essential work to uphold the fairness of our justice system.”
The bulk of the investment – £16 million – will be used to increase fees for solicitors working in these police stations. In line with the Review’s recommendations, the consultation also proposes to simplify the different police station fees by increasing lowest charges in the scheme.
On top of this, £5.1 million has been allocated to increase the pay for solicitors taking on Youth Court legal aid work for the most serious offences by £548 per case. This will help reflect the complexity of the work done in the Youth Court which can deal with murder and sexual assault trials. These fee increases aim to encourage solicitor firms to specialise in this area to better serve the children and teenagers they represent.
The MoJ stated that this funding increase will apply to new work from summer 2024 as part of the second phase of government plans focusing on longer-term systemic reform.