Useful resources

On this page:

Provider training pack
Fee scheme Q&As
Defence Solicitor Call Centre Q&As
CDS Direct Q&As
Important changes to claiming criminal cases
For more information

Provider training pack

We have held a number of crime training events across the country to discuss the revised criminal fee schemes.

We have updated our training pack which provides guidance for providers about what is changing and what is staying the same.

See Documents for the pack.

Fee scheme Q&As

See Documents for questions and answers on the following schemes:

police station fixed fees
litigators fee scheme.

Defence Solicitor Call Centre Q&As

Changes to the Defence Solicitor Call Centre (DSCC) come into force on 14 Jan 08. See Documents for questions and answers.

CDS Direct Q&As

We are expanding our Criminal Defence Service. See Documents for questions and answers.

Important changes to claiming criminal cases

VAT

From the July submission onwards all figures included on your CDS6 (whether online, bulk-load or paper submission) should be reported exclusive of VAT.

Each line will include a new VAT indicator field where you can indicate:

eligibility to claim VAT
the case in question properly attracts VAT.

There is a field where the value of VAT on disbursements can be stipulated. This allows for the fact that not all disbursements attract VAT.

A revised version of the CDS6 form is under CDS Forms. You should use the new CDS6 (Version 7 July 2008) for all cases completed from 1 Jul 08.

Claims for non-standard fee work are not affected, as the CDS7 claim form already allows for this breakdown.

Cost of Travel

From 14 Jul 08 there will be no contractual requirement to report the cost of travel for police station fixed fee or magistrates’ court standard fee claims. The requirement to report the cost of waiting remains.

Where you are claiming an exceptional case fee for police station work you may still include these costs in your calculation to work out whether the relevant threshold is exceeded.

Those submitting their CDS6 through the bulk-load or online will need to enter £0 in the appropriate field to prevent the line being rejected by our system.

For further information regarding either of the above changes, please see the revised CDS6 guidance document under CDS Forms, or contact your Account Manager.

For more information

Visit the CDS>Pay rates and schemes pages for details of the fee schemes.

Civil providers should visit the following page in the CLS section for comparable information:

Transforming civil legal aid>Useful resources
Pay rates and schemes.

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Last updated: 18 August 2008