A digital system that became mandatory for immigration legal aid practitioners during the pandemic has led to them spending longer on cases, according to data used to inform government proposals on fixed fees.

The Ministry of Justice is currently consulting on a new fee regime for immigration and asylum work following the introduction of the online system as well as the Nationality and Borders Act.

Work is currently paid on an hourly rate basis after the government, faced with the prospect of two judicial reviews, revoked regulations introducing a £627 fixed fee regime in 2020.

Under the proposed fixed fee regime, practitioners would be paid £669 for asylum appeals that do not reach a hearing and £1,009 for those that do. Non-asylum appeals would attract a fixed fee of £628 if they reach a hearing and £855 if they do not.

A new escape threshold – the point at which hourly rates can be paid – will be set at twice the value of the relevant fixed fee.

To inform its proposals, the ministry surveyed firms that had completed at least five cases on the online system. From 60 invitations, 17 responded. The findings of the survey, which was conducted last October, were published this week.

Case time is estimated to have increased from an average of 12.5 to 20.2 hours for asylum work and from 9.3 hours to 16.5 hours for non-asylum work.

Asked how long on average it took to apply to the tribunal in an asylum case, 10 respondents said it took between 1-3 hours under the previous regime. Under the online system, which requires practitioners to prepare an appeal skeleton argument early in the process, four respondents said it took 8-12 hours and another four said 12-16 hours.

Several respondents said much more time was needed at a later stage to prepare for a tribunal hearing under the online system.

The consultation will close on 5 September after the ministry decided to extend it by three weeks.