The APL welcomed proposals issued today, 9 May 2025, by the Ministry of justice to increase the fees in legal aid prison law cases.
The consultation document acknowledges that prison law was left out of the increases in criminal legal aid fees by the previous government, despite recommendations that it should be included. It also notes that the rates for prison law legal aid work have not changed (apart from a reduction in 2014) for many years. In fact, prison law legal aid rates have decreased in real terms by 37% since 2011.
The Ministry of Justice paper also recognises that Parole Board cases are “becoming increasingly complex”, a point that prison lawyers have been making for many years.
The consultation proposes an increase in the rates of 24%. While this proposal still does not get prison law fees anywhere near their equivalent value in 2011, the APL welcomes the proposal as an essential first step towards making prison law legal aid work sustainable. The APL also the acknowledgments in the paper that this is an area that is complex and has been overlooked in recent years.
Laura Janes KC (Hon), Chair of the Association of Prison Lawyers said:
“The proposals are hugely welcome and long overdue – it is the first official mention of a possible increase in rates in decades. It comes at a time when many prison law practitioners are struggling to survive and feeling bruised and penalised by a change in the way the Legal Aid Agency is assessing bills in the most complex and voluminous cases. We will be engaging with our members and responding to the consultation in full.”
The APL produced a report in 2023 setting out the immense difficulties that legal aid prison law practitioners face.