STORY
The Government has announced a significant funding increase for legal aid, setting out plans for an investment worth up to £92 million a year to support criminal legal aid solicitors and improve access to justice for victims. Ministers said the move is intended to strengthen a system that has faced sustained pressure in recent years and to help speed up the progression of cases.
The announcement confirms that criminal legal aid solicitors will receive a 24% rise in fees compared with the levels recommended in the earlier independent review. Officials argue that this uplift will help stabilise the profession, ensure people can access representation and reduce delays that have contributed to backlogs in the courts.
Alongside support for criminal work the Government is also increasing fees for housing and immigration legal aid for the first time since the mid nineteen nineties with an additional £18 million a year earmarked to assist providers. A further £2 million is being directed to licensed housing and immigration work.