Legal aid row with barristers ends with £23m funding rise

THE Government is to boost legal aid spending by more than £20million following a rare period of industrial action by lawyers.

Ministers came under fire earlier this year after introducing a new system for determining payments for legal aid work. The changes, along with wider concerns about the system, prompted the highly unusual industrial action by some criminal barristers.

Ministers increased spending on the Advocates’ Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS) by £15million in August. Following further consultation the overall increase has gone up another £8million.

The AGFS is the scheme through which criminal defence advocates are paid for carrying out publicly funded work in the crown court.

David Gauke, the Lord Chancellor, also committed to bring forward a 1 per cent increase on all fees to come into effect alongside the new scheme.

He said: “Criminal defence advocates play a crucial role in upholding the rule of law, and it is vital their pay adequately reflects the work they do. We have acted on the views we have heard during our engagement with the Bar.”

Chris Henley QC, chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, said: “We have been relentlessly making the case that after years of deep cuts in the criminal justice system, significant investment is urgently required to address an increasing crisis, which is impacting profoundly on the retention and diversity of junior criminal barristers.”

He added that although the Government had listened to the concerns, there remained “serious, structural problems with the new scheme”.

Richard Burgon, the shadow justice secretary said: “The Government has been forced to go back to the drawing board and make some changes. But this is just a temporary sticking plaster that will not resolve the crisis in our criminal justice system.”