Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made impact of the falling number of criminal Barristers in England and Wales on the operation of the criminal justice system.

In his Independent Review of Criminal Legal Aid, Sir Christopher Bellamy commented that between 2015-16 and 2019-20, the number of barristers undertaking public criminal work fell by 6% whereas, over the same time period, there was a 26% fall in the number of cases for which payment was claimed under the Advocates’ Graduated Fee Scheme (with a corresponding 8% fall in spend). He concluded that ‘it is important to bear in mind that with a significant fall in work between 2015/16 and 2019/20, there would bound to be a contraction of the labour force.’

As recommended by Sir Christopher Bellamy, we are increasing criminal barristers’ fees by 15 percent. This will see the typical barrister earn around £7,000 more a year.