Legal aid fees take a step in the right direction
updated on 24 March 2025
The government has proposed raising civil legal aid fees for the first time in 30 years. While this has been welcomed by the Bar Council and the Law Society, both organisations are concerned that the changes don’t go far enough to match the rise in consumer price index (CPI).
The government’s proposed fee increase ranges from 10% to 42%. The Bar Council highlights that this falls “far short of bringing fees back to 1996 levels in real terms” because, while hourly rates for most civil legal aid work have remained the same, CPI has increased by 96.8%. The Law Society stated that legal aid fees would need to rise by 95% to match CPI increases. It noted that, while the planned fee increases are a step in the right direction, it’s not enough to ensure legal aid work is sustainable.
The Bar Council has proposed that barristers should be paid hourly rates for their advocacy and preparation, rather than a fixed fee, and that advocates should always be paid for their travel and waiting time. It has also suggested that there should be regular independent fee reviews to ensure parity with broader market rates. The option of remote advice is another idea, which could improve access to justice, while keeping in-person services an option.
There’s a severe contrast between the proposed fees for legal aid work and non-legal aid work completed by civil barristers. The Bar Council said: “It is not clear how the government paying half the rate for doing legal aid work than it does for doing non-legal aid work, encourages ‘the best and brightest’ to do legal aid work.”
It also emphasised the complex nature of housing and immigration law, as well as the heightened vulnerability of clients seeking assistance in these areas. It therefore stated the importance of adequate pay in these fields.
Chair of the Bar Council, Barbara Mills KC, said: “In the current economic climate, we of course welcome new investment into civil legal aid, but a significantly greater uplift is required to genuinely create sustainability and adequately address the complexity of immigration and housing work”.
