Advocates graduated fee scheme

On this page:

AGFS claims processed by the LSC
Which claim form do I use?
Who should submit the AF1 form?
Where do I send the form?
Travel expenses

AGFS claims processed by the LSC

Processing, validation and payment of most claims under the Advocates’ Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS) is carried out by the LSC.

Some claims however should be sent to the National Taxing Team at HMCS. These are:

Proceeds of Crime Act claims involving more than 50 pages of evidence - Applications are made under Paragraph 11 of Schedule 1 of the Criminal Defence Service Funding order 2007 - the types of pages which count towards the 50+ pages are set out in that order.
Claims where you believe that the Fixed Fee normally payable for an Appeal or a Committal for Sentence / Breach is not appropriate and that the determining officer should instead allow reasonable remuneration - see Part 4 Article 17(4) of the Criminal Defence Service (Funding) Order 2007.

Which claim form do I use?

All AGFS claims submitted to the LSC will need to be on our AF1 form with the relevant supporting evidence.

The Instructed Advocate is responsible for drawing up and submitting the AF1 to the LSC as set out in the Funding Order.

Where the identity of the Instructed Advocate is disputed the advocate must provide evidence to the LSC to confirm their status. This could be a copy of the letter to the court or a copy of a letter signed by all advocates in the case agreeing the nominated person as Instructed Advocate.

Where do I send the AF1 form?

This depends on your location.

If you're based in London (all London boroughs) or the North West (Cumbria, Cheshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, and Merseyside) send your claims to our Liverpool office.
If you're based anywhere else to our Nottingham office.

Travel expenses

The LSC has agreed with the Bar Council and Law Society a number of changes to the way in which the “Local Bar Rule” is applied when assessing claims for advocates’ travel expenses.

To ensure that your claim for travel expenses is not rejected, we've published a list of the travel arrangements for all Crown Courts as well as guidance on the assessment process.

For further information please contact the AGFS Team that processes your bills.

Contact details

Liverpool AGFS Team
Legal Services Commission
Cavern Walks
8 Mathew Street
Liverpool, L2 6RE
DX: 14208 Liverpool 1
Tel: 0151 242 5371
Email: Liverpool@legalservices.gsi.gov.uk

Nottingham AGFS Team
Legal Services Commission
Fothergill House, 16 King Street
Nottingham, NG1 2AS
DX: 10035 Nottingham 1
Tel: 0115 908 4210
Email: Nottingham@legalservices.gsi.gov.uk

Last updated: 09 February 2012