Barristers: Strikes

(asked on 21st July 2022) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Criminal Bar Association on recent strikes.


Answered by
Sarah Dines Portrait
Sarah Dines
This question was answered on 6th September 2022

Criminal barristers play a crucial role in upholding the rule of law and are a fundamental part of our criminal justice system. Our plans to increase legal aid fees will put criminal legal aid on a sustainable footing and ensure there is a sustainable supply of practitioners. We have made proposals for wholesale reform of legal aid – including £115 million more on fees, £20 million for longer term reform and increased sitting days so that the Crown Court can get through more trials. This, combined, would take expected criminal legal aid spend to £1.2 billion per year.

On 20 July, the Government laid a statutory instrument to implement a 15% uplift to most fee schemes. This statutory instrument will come into force for new representation orders that begin from 30 September 2022 onwards. Criminal legal aid practitioners will start to receive the pay increase from October 2022 onwards for their work on these cases.

Since the consultation closed, my officials have been working hard to analyse all responses to deliver our full response in the Autumn and progress reform at pace. Our full response to the consultation will include our proposals to:

  • Reform fee schemes so they properly reflect the way legal professionals work today.

  • Invest in a diverse and sustainable profession.

  • Create an Advisory Board (CLAIR explicitly did not recommend a pay review body as suggested in the question).

Written work is one of a number of activities constituting an advocate’s typical preparation for a Crown Court trial. Most preparation is currently considered to be remunerated by the Advocates’ Graduated Fee Scheme fixed basic (“brief”) fee; the department does not currently collect the data necessary to isolate how many hours advocates normally commit to written work (or other preparatory activities). Officials are currently determining the optimal approach for exploring the nature of modern advocacy and establishing how best to reform the AGFS as a whole. We will outline next steps in the full response to consultation. We will also respond to the question asked about potential training grants for criminal legal aid chambers to help with recruitment and retention issues.

I am committed to work with the legal professions – both barristers and solicitors – to ensure that criminal advocacy remains an attractive profession which is open to all. This must be a long term, system-wide process, far beyond legal aid. This is an important task for the Government, but this is not something we can deliver alone.

My predecessor, James Cartlidge MP, met with representatives from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) in May and I met with them in July. These meetings gave us the chance to discuss the positive changes proposed by the CLAIR consultation and the benefits of engaging with government constructively to ensure the sustainability of the sector. I have since offered to meet again with the CBA, which they are yet to respond to. Senior officials continue to meet with the CBA to discuss issues of mutual concern on a weekly basis.

Reticulating Splines