Legal aid reform

Summary of civil fee changes implemented on 3 Oct 2011 and family fee changes to be implemented on 1 Feb 2012

The summary tables below cover the changes to civil and family remuneration for legal aid as detailed in the Ministry of Justice’s response to the consultation paper, Proposals for the Reform of Legal Aid in England and Wales.

These tables are also available to download as a PDF from the documents panel.

For information on crime changes go to the Legal aid reform crime page.

Regarding the remaining proposals, the LSC is in the process of assessing the MoJ’s consultation response and determining what the impacts will be on the LSC and legal aid providers.

We are therefore still investigating when we will implement the other elements of the Legal Aid Reforms including scope and eligibility changes.

Civil fee changes

These changes apply to work done under a certificate granted following an application made on or after 3 Oct 2011 or case start date (for all other cases) on or after 3 Oct 2011. The old fees and rates apply if an application has been signed by the client (for certificated work) before 3 Oct and received by the LSC on or before 10 Oct 2011. In family cases and those housing cases dealt with under the Unified Contract the changes will apply via new contracts on 1 Feb 2012. The new rates can be found in the relevant payment annexes of the civil contracts.

Family fee changes

In family cases and those housing cases dealt with under the Unified Contract the changes will apply, via the new family contracts, to work done under a certificate granted following an application made on or after 1 Feb 2012 or case start date (for all other cases) on or after 1 Feb 2012. The old fees and rates apply if an application has been signed by the client (for certificated work) before 1 Feb and received by the LSC on or before 8 Feb 2012. on 1 Feb 2012. The new rates can be found in the relevant payment annexes of the civil family contracts. Family barristers will be subject to the new fees, under the Family Advocacy Scheme, as per the transitional dates set above (certificates granted on or after 1 Feb 2012)

Fee changes for experts and barristers

There are now specified rates payable for work undertaken by barristers in civil and new rates will apply to all work undertaken by experts in all crime, civil and family work. Please see the relevant payment annexes in the civil contracts for the new rates for experts and barristers.

The old rates/expert provisions will apply to certificates where the application for funding was made prior to 3 Oct 2011 (i.e. it will need to have signed prior to 3 Oct 2011) and received by the LSC on or before 10 Oct 2011.

The new rates for experts will apply to all applications signed on or after 3 Oct 2011, as well as those applications which have been signed before 3 Oct 2011 but not received by the LSC by 10 Oct 2011. The new rates apply, regardless of whether the contract held by the provider is Unified or Standard.

For further information about the rates for civil experts please click this link and download the civil experts' fees file in the document panel on that page.

Provider training

Online training is available for providers at http://training.legalservices.gov.uk.

Providers who have not previously registered with the LSC Provider training website will need to register their details first. They will need their account number, organisation name and postcode. All providers and advocates affected by the implementation of the reforms are encouraged to make use of this training tool, to ensure the accuracy of their claims and minimise any delays as a result.

Further information

Please see our FAQ or contact your contract manager for further information.

If you do not have a contract manager, please send your query to LegalAidReforms@legalservices.gsi.gov.uk.

If your query relates to the policy driving the reforms, please refer to http://www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/legal-aid-reform.htm.

Codify barrister rates
Codify barristers rates and reduce by 10%.

Fee reduction
Implement the proposed 10% reduction in all fees paid under the civil legal aid scheme (with the exception of telephone advice). Providers that formerly operated under the Unified Contract will not be subject to this reduction (for all their family, housing and tolerance work) until the implementation of a new family contract in February 2012.

Enhancements
Agree that the level of enhancements available in civil and family cases should be capped at a maximum of 100% in the Upper Tribunal (civil non-family), High Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and 50% for all other proceedings, on the basis that they will not result in a pro-rata reduction in the level of enhancements currently awarded below these levels.

Use of QCs
Limit the use of Queen’s Counsel in family cases to cases where provisions similar to those in criminal cases apply.

Codify expert rates
Codify the benchmark rates for experts, and reduce by 10%, with provision for exceptional cases; continue to develop a longer term framework towards a fixed and graduated fee scheme.

Last updated: 01 February 2012