The Ministry of Justice has laid the Criminal Legal Aid (General and Remuneration) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/1251) before Parliament. Signed on 27 November 2025 and applying in England and Wales, most provisions commence on 22 December 2025, with regulation 3 starting on 31 December 2025.
Scope is widened under section 14(h) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 to include proceedings in the High Court concerning Parole Board release decisions referred under section 32ZAA of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 or section 256AZBA of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. This brings legal aid within reach for referrals created by the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, which inserted those provisions. Regulation 3-containing this change-comes into force on 31 December 2025.
Police station remuneration is standardised. From 22 December, the fixed fee for police station attendance is set at £320 across all Police Station Schemes, with a single escape fee threshold of £650. The Regulations also define how attendances outside listed schemes are attributed and tie the scheme list to Annex A of the Standard Crime Contract Guidance (version 19, October 2025). These measures align with the government’s consultation response confirming a £320 fixed fee and £650 threshold.
Work outside the police station and pre‑charge engagement now carries a clearer route to exceed caps. The instrument provides that Upper Limits for these categories may be extended upon application in accordance with the 2025 Standard Crime Contract-codifying a contract‑based route to additional funding in atypical or time‑intensive cases. Providers should ensure contract references in claims are updated to the 2025 terms.
Magistrates’ court remuneration is uplifted. The Regulations replace the relevant fee tables and increase key minima-for example, the minimum standard fee moves from £208.61 to £229.47. For court duty and virtual court advocacy, the tables are substituted in full, reflecting higher rates across appearances and advocacy assistance. The effect is to raise baseline income on summary work while preserving structured standard‑fee models.
Youth court remuneration mirrors the magistrates’ adjustments. The instrument substitutes the youth court fee tables and increases the minimum standard fee to £229.47, supporting parity with adult summary work while recognising youth‑specific preparation and engagement demands. Providers should check updated unit fees and any consequential changes to thresholds that determine when cases move out of standard‑fee treatment.
Own‑client hourly and item rates rise. The Regulations lift the prescribed figures, including increases such as £55.14 to £60.65 and £52.15 to £57.37 for specified hourly categories, £78.71 to £86.58 for higher‑rate items, and routine letters/telephone calls per item from £26.23 to £28.85. These changes respond to cost pressures while keeping the long‑standing split between hourly and per‑item remuneration.
Prison law fees are increased and tables replaced. The standard and higher fees, hourly rates and escape calculations for disciplinary, sentence and Parole Board matters are uplifted-for example, figures move from £200.75 to £248.93 and from £602.25 to £746.79 in specified categories-alongside updated standard‑fee structures. This is consistent with the consultation outcome to raise prison law fees by around 24%.
Appeals work attracts higher remuneration. The instrument increases specified Court of Appeal fees and uplifts advice and assistance limits for appeals against conviction or sentence and for Criminal Cases Review Commission applications (e.g. £314.81 to £346.29 and £524.69 to £577.16). For Crown Court appeals arising from proceedings prescribed under section 14(h), the Upper Limit is increased to £1,731.47.
Cash‑flow for litigators is improved by removing regulation 17A(3) of the 2013 Remuneration Regulations. That provision had prevented interim payments where a case was sent to the Crown Court on the defendant’s election after a magistrates’ determination of suitability for summary trial. Its omission means interim payments become available for those election cases from 22 December 2025.
Two new provisions clarify when the appropriate officer may depart from the prescribed rate in magistrates’, youth, Part 1 Anti‑social Behaviour Act injunction/parenting order proceedings, and section 14(h) proceedings in the High Court, family court or county court. Fees can be allowed at less than the prescribed rate where reasonable, or enhanced above the rate (up to 100%) for exceptional competence, despatch or complexity-subject to any applicable Upper Limits.
Application and transition are tied to ‘relevant determinations’. The changes apply to services provided following determinations under sections 13, 15 or 16 of LASPO made on or after 22 December 2025. Providers operating under the 2025 Standard Crime Contract should align case management, police station scheme references and claiming practices with the new fees, thresholds and extension routes set out in the instrument and the Contract.