News focus: Treasury coughs up for prosecutors - but solicitors still 'short-changed'

Last weekend, director of public prosecutions Max Hill KC announced that, with the help of bar chiefs, he had managed to secured cash from HM Treasury to restore parity between prosecution and defence fees. The disparity arose from the £54m deal the criminal bar struck with the Ministry of Justice, under Brandon Lewis MP, to suspend its long-running industrial action.

Hill told a Bar Council meeting that last year’s spending review settlement for the Crown Prosecution Service came before publication of Sir Christopher Bellamy’s criminal legal aid review recommendations and, consequently, did not include any provision for fee increases.

‘We made a strong, evidence-based case to the Treasury about the need for parity in fees, notwithstanding the financial pressures we are working under. We always believed the reasons were compelling and made the case consistently over recent months – and I am grateful to the Treasury for their engagement and now, their support.’

He added: ‘Alongside our conversations with Treasury we have been in regular and constructive discussions with you, with bar leaders about the detail of any changes – so that when we were able to act, and that starts now, we could do so swiftly and seamlessly, maintaining our good record of prompt payment. I am grateful to all those on the bar-side who fed into that discussion, and we will now look to conclude discussions and make the necessary changes. We need to get things right and not rush things, but we are confident that changes can be introduced within a shortened timeframe of around two months, once the final shape of the package has been agreed.’

The additional funding was the culmination of a strenuous joint effort.

Criminal Bar Association chair Kirsty Brimelow KC said: ‘Thanks go to Max Hill KC and his team and to Sir Bob Neill and the justice select committee, including the indefatigable Karl Turner MP and James Daly MP, as well as the attorney general and the solicitor general. The lord chancellor also was supportive of the CBA’s argument to increase prosecution fees. Indeed, there was no counter-argument. Further, the Bar Council stepped up to work alongside the CBA – building on work of the former Bar Council chair – alongside the circuit leaders.’

Attorney general Victoria Prentis KC MP said: ‘Ensuring that victims’ voices are heard requires prosecutors, delivering a core part of this government’s commitment to breaking down barriers to justice. That is why it is welcome news the Treasury will provide the Crown Prosecution Service with the additional funding it needs to increase prosecution fees in line with those agreed for defence legal aid fees last year. This is an issue that I have championed alongside the Bar Council and CPS, and it is an outcome that reflects the importance of a well-functioning justice system.’

The new cash is an important step towards putting criminal legal aid on a sustainable footing. But amid the backslapping, the case becomes ever more compelling for HM Treasury to turn its attention towards solicitors.

‘We note with interest that the government has agreed with Lord Bellamy that equality of arms between legal defence and prosecution is important, and consequently the government has increased payment rates for prosecution barristers in line with their defence counterparts,’ Law Society president Lubna Shuja commented.

‘There needs to be equality of arms with defence solicitors too. There is no reason why the Treasury cannot also provide a similar remedy for defence solicitors, as set out in Lord Bellamy’s independent report. This must be a priority to address the seriously damaging inequality that has led to more than 1,000 duty solicitors leaving the profession since 2017, many of them to the Crown Prosecution Service.’

Shuja told the justice committee last month that £30m is needed to fill the gap between what the Bellamy review recommended for solicitors (a 15% fee uplift) and what the government offered (11%).

How much has the Treasury given to the CPS? Justice committee chair Bob Neill told the chief secretary to the Treasury in January that the required funding increase to address the disparity between prosecution and defence fees would cost around £30m per annum. A bitter irony.

But it raises the question: why is the Law Society having to pursue legal action against the lord chancellor to secure £30m for solicitors? The government has responded to the Society’s pre-action letter – we await to hear if the case will be heading to court. Meanwhile, practitioners are pursuing plans to unionise in the hope that will force ministers to listen.

‘The government continues to short-change defence solicitors despite their crucial role as the backbone of the criminal justice system,’ Shuja said.

Indeed.

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