The government’s proposed £34 million funding package for the criminal legal aid sector has prompted concerns that women barristers could be disproportionately affected by the way the funding is being allocated.
The Ministry of Justice has proposed a 30% increase in fees for guilty pleas, while leaving the daily attendance fee for trials lasting more than one day unchanged.
The Bar Council and Criminal Bar Association have raised concerns about the potential impact on barristers who specialise in rape and serious sexual offence (RASSO) cases. Guilty pleas are less common in these cases, which often require lengthy trials and are frequently conducted by women barristers.
By comparison, guilty pleas are more common in drug-related cases, which are more frequently handled by male barristers. The Bar Council has therefore warned that women undertaking consecutive RASSO trials may receive little benefit from the proposed guilty plea uplift while continuing to receive no increase for daily trial attendance.
The Criminal Bar Association has also warned that the proposals could make RASSO work less sustainable for practitioners. It argues that this could encourage more barristers to leave the area, potentially increasing the existing court backlog and causing further delays for victims.
The concerns come as the government continues to emphasise its commitment to tackling violence against women and girls. Representative bodies have warned that reducing the number of experienced advocates available to conduct serious sexual offence cases could have wider consequences for the criminal justice system.
The Bar Council and Criminal Bar Association have also criticised the proposal that the increased fees would apply only to new instructions issued after the revised rates come into force.
With the criminal court backlog standing at around 80,000 cases and some cases already being listed into 2029, the organisations argue that barristers working on existing cases could wait years before receiving the benefit of the proposed increases. They have noted that fee increases following the 2022 funding settlement were capable of being applied to ongoing cases.
Both organisations are calling for an increase to daily attendance fees and a longer-term mechanism for reviewing legal aid rates. The Criminal Bar Association has highlighted that the Retail Price Index has increased by 19.8% since 2022, compared with a 24.9% rise in public sector pay and a 22% increase in Crown court judicial salaries.
The consultation on the proposed reforms is due to close on 2 September 2026. The responses are expected to inform the government’s decision on how the £34 million funding package will ultimately be distributed.
