Bar Council criticises government criminal legal aid proposal as not backed by evidence banner

Bar Council criticises government criminal legal aid proposal as not backed by evidence

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 The Bar Council has criticised the long-awaited government proposals on criminal legal aid as “not backed by evidence” and “fundamentally unfair”.

In response to a much-delayed Ministry of Justice consultation, the Bar’s representative body denounced a government proposal to increase fees for guilty pleas by 30% but not increase daily attendance fees at trials at all.

Instead, the Bar Council called on the government to commit to both a 6% increase to guilty plea fees and a 6% increase to daily attendance fees, as recommended by the Criminal Legal Aid Advisory Board Advocates' Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS) working group, after careful analysis, in January 2026.

Criminal legal aid last received a cash injection in 2022, following Sir Christopher Bellamy’s Independent Review of Criminal Legal Aid highlighting the legal aid and access to justice crisis, and following action by the criminal Bar.

Public funding for justice in England and Wales declined by 22.4% in real per person terms from 2009-10 to 2022-23. Inflation has meant that fees are in real terms now no better than they were before the increase.

On 2 December 2025, the former Lord Chancellor announced an additional investment in criminal legal aid fees of up to £34 million (including VAT) every year to address the shortage of criminal barristers. The Bar Council has welcomed the investment but pointed out that it was “only a relatively small step”.

In its response to the Ministry of Justice’s criminal legal aid consultation on ‘Proposals for advocates’ graduated fee scheme reform’, the Bar Council said the government must explain the evidential basis for going against the working group's recommendation advanced and reasoned in January 2026 and proposing a 0% increase to daily attendance fees.

It also argued that the proposal to not apply the increase in legal aid to ongoing cases currently in the backlog, meaning that any increase in legal aid will only be realised in future years, is “fundamentally unfair”, stating that “no other profession is paid out of public funds in this manner”.

The Bar Council reiterated its call for the government to establish an independent fees review body to ensure criminal legal aid fees keep pace with inflation and stop the criminal justice lurching from crisis to crisis.

Bar Council Chair Kirsty Brimelow KC said: “We urge the Ministry of Justice to follow the recommendation of the expert working group to increase fees for daily attendance at court. These have been decimated by cuts and inflation.

“The Ministry of Justice’s proposal will disproportionately negatively impact rape and serious sexual offences cases as these cases are usually trials and the Ministry of Justice is proposing reducing investment in trials.

“Generally, barristers act in the most serious, complex and lengthy trials. There already is an issue of insufficient barristers due to the working conditions of practising in criminal law. Criminal KCs alone have decreased by around 25%. This proposal will not attract them back and may drive more away, which means more adjourned cases for complainant victims.

“The government also should fulfil its commitment of spend during the spending review and so apply the increase to the 80,000-case backlog rather than on new cases, many of which will only complete years in the future. Otherwise, it is simply incorrect for the government to state that it is ‘pulling every lever’ to reduce the backlog.

“We repeat our calls for a fees review body which will ensure that legal aid fees keep pace with inflation. This is a minimum and its establishment will demonstrate government commitment to tackling the criminal justice system’s downward spiral.

“Investing in a properly funded criminal Bar and investing in victim support are not competing priorities. It is incoherent to spend hundreds of millions supporting victims to an empty or delayed courtroom.”

The Bar Council’s consultation response calls for:

  • Reinstatement of the Criminal Legal Aid Advisory Board Advocates' Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS) working group's recommendation of 6% increase to guilty plea fees and 6% increase to daily attendance fees
  • Implementation of all fee increases to ongoing cases and the case backlog
  • Treating the full £34 million as additional investment, with the £3.6 million 2022 spending review shortfall funded separately (in line with the government announcement)
  • Establishing an independent fees review body or similar mechanism to ensure criminal legal aid fees keep pace with inflation in future

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