The Bar Council has welcomed the long overdue increase to civil legal aid fees for housing and immigration. This is the first increase for civil legal aid fees since 1996 and since that time, the consumer price index (CPI) has increased by 96.8%. What that means is that, despite the increase, civil legal aid fees for barristers and solicitors remain far behind inflation.
Commenting, Barbara Mills KC, Chair of the Bar Council, said:
“We welcome any new investment into civil legal aid, but further investment is urgently needed to address increasingly complex legal aid caseloads and ensure the long-term sustainability of civil legal aid. We know that access to early legal advice is essential, not only for individuals in need of legal representation but also in saving costs to the taxpayer further down the line as cases become more complex.
“Legal aid fees cannot be allowed to fall so far behind inflation. We continue to call for an independent fee review body to ensure fees are at the right level to attract and then retain talented legal professionals in this essential public service work.”
The civil legal aid payment system has recently been hit by a cyber attack on the Legal Aid Agency. Barbara Mills KC added:
“Barristers working in civil and family legal aid have been significantly impacted by the cyber attack on the Legal Aid Agency. While the LAA has put contingency payments in place and is working hard to restore systems, the incident has added further stress and pressure on legal professionals undertaking this complex and important work.
“We don’t yet know when the systems will be restored and this, coupled with concerns over the recoupment process for fees paid via the contingency measure, is creating high levels of distress and anxiety amongst the publicly funded Bar.
“It is essential that the government does all it can to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and as efficiently as possible in recognition of the value of legal aid legal professionals."