Criminal legal aid solicitors will receive up to £92 million more a year to help address the ongoing challenges in the criminal justice system.
- Government confirms up to £92 million investment in criminal legal aid after years of neglect
- New funding for housing and immigration fees to help rebuild the justice system
- Part of government's Plan for Change to transform the justice system and deliver swifter justice for victims
Victims will get swifter access to justice as the Government confirms up to an additional £92m per year boost for criminal legal aid solicitors, Courts Minister Sarah Sackman announced today (Monday 1 December).
The investment will tackle years of neglect and build a stronger and more sustainable legal aid sector that works for those who serve within it - and those victims and defendants who depend on it.
This investment lays the groundwork for longer-term reform to the justice system to get cases moving through the courts and ensure swifter justice for victims - with further updates expected later this week.
Minister for Courts and Legal Services, Sarah Sackman KC MP, said:
Our legal aid system has been left neglected. This multimillion-pound investment is crucial to keeping the wheels of justice turning - it supports the professionals keeping the system running, the victims waiting for answers, and all those who need access justice.
We know that justice delayed is justice denied. That is why we're investing in the criminal justice system. Getting the legal aid sector back on a sustainable footing is vital to restoring the public's confidence in our justice system
Once fully implemented, criminal legal aid solicitors will have received a 24% overall uplift in funding since the 2021 Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review (CLAIR).
Criminal solicitors have been waiting years for a pay rise and now they will finally feel the fee increases which will support their vital work to keep the wheels of our criminal justice system turning.
Alongside this, the Government is also uplifting housing and immigration legal aid fees by 18 million a year - the first major civil legal aid fee increase since 1996.
An additional two million for licensed housing and immigration work will be delivered separately and as soon as possible. An injection of £20 million will support some of the most vulnerable people in society, including those at risk of losing their home and victims of modern slavery. The investment will also help to reduce the asylum backlog and end the use of asylum hotels.
The majority of these crime and civil changes will come into effect on 22 December 2025 - ensuring hardworking practitioners are properly paid for the vital work they do.
Legal aid plays a crucial role in our justice system, supporting some of the most complex cases that go through our courts. Our Plan for Change is making the justice system fair, accessible and fit for purpose.
This funding supports our wider reform of the criminal justice system. The government will soon publish its response to Part 1 of Sir Brian Leveson's independent review, which recommends bold and ambitious reforms to clear the escalating court backlog and deliver swifter justice for victims.
