Criminal legal aid receives £92 million funding boost

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The government recently announced a pay rise for criminal legal aid solicitors, set out in a new publication by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The changes introduced, informed by 214 consultation responses, are expected to come into force on 22 December 2025.

Justice Minister Sara Sackman confirmed that the investment will deliver a 24% boost in funding for the sector. She described the £92 million investment as a measure that would “tackle years of neglect and build a stronger and more sustainable legal aid sector”. The expected changes include:

• increasing magistrates’ court fees;
• harmonising a fixed fee for all police station schemes; and
• establishing a fixed ratio between the guilty plea, cracked trial, and trial basic fees under the Litigators’ Graduated Fee Scheme.

The announcement comes after decades of cuts to criminal legal aid. Research shows that, in the past eight years more than 1,400 criminal solicitors have left the profession, which has left one in eight duty solicitor schemes at risk. The profession is also ageing, with only 7% of duty solicitors under 35 years old and an average age of 51 years old.

Law Society Vice President Brett Dixon welcomed the move, he explained: “We all benefit from there being enough criminal legal aid lawyers to carry out this crucial work at police stations, in magistrates' courts, in the crown court and in prisons.

“This additional investment is a positive step forward and a short-term boost for the profession after decades of underfunding and cuts.”

However, Dixon expressed disappointment that the MoJ hadn’t addressed the additional costs of out-of-hours work. He also added: “To give the profession confidence that the government has a long-term commitment to criminal legal aid, it also needs to implement annual cost-of-living increases.”