The government has confirmed that anti-social behaviour injunctions under Part 1 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 have been replaced by Respect Orders, youth injunctions and housing injunctions from 26 October 2026. In practical terms, the former Part 1 route is no longer the live model for new cases, and providers now need to treat the replacement orders as the operative framework. According to the GOV.UK update, Respect Orders are intended to strengthen the existing regime. The main substantive shift is that breach of a Respect Order is a criminal offence, while youth injunctions and housing injunctions continue to deal with anti-social behaviour involving children and housing-related cases.
The legal aid position is framed as continuity rather than redesign. The updated guidance confirms that civil legal aid remains available for the making of Respect Orders, youth injunctions and housing injunctions, and that criminal legal aid remains available for breaches of those orders. That is an important point for local authorities, housing providers, defence firms and legal aid practitioners. The names and enforcement structure have changed, but access to funded advice and representation has been carried across. The immediate compliance issue is not eligibility but correct claiming.
For civil legal aid, providers are being directed to keep using the existing Part 1 injunction codes. GOV.UK states that legal help should continue under matter type 1 code XASB and fee code MISCASBI where the case is funded as miscellaneous work under the civil contract. Where the work is claimed as associated civil work under the crime contract, the stage reached code remains ASAS and the fee code remains ASAS. The same continuity applies to legal representation. Civil providers should use proceeding codes NU027 and NU028, while crime providers carrying out associated civil work should use CR034 and CR035. For billing teams, that reduces immediate disruption, but only where file notes and case management records clearly distinguish between Respect Orders, youth injunctions and housing injunctions.
On remuneration, the government says civil legal aid for Respect Orders, youth injunctions and housing injunctions is intended to be paid on the same basis as the former Part 1 injunctions. For legal help, that means a fixed fee of £157. For legal representation, payment is intended to follow the rates at Table 10(a) of Schedule 1 to the Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013. There is, however, an important qualification for Respect Orders. The rates apply automatically to housing injunctions and youth injunctions, but the formal change for Respect Orders has not yet been made. Subject to parliamentary approval, the government says legislation to remunerate Respect Orders at those rates is intended to come into force on 17 December 2026.
The guidance also draws a clear line between the commencement date for the new order and the date on which billing should take place. The new rates are intended to apply to all Respect Orders commenced after implementation on 26 October 2026, but providers are told to submit claims or bills for Respect Orders only after 17 December 2026 and to use the existing injunction codes when doing so. For practice managers, that timing point matters. A claim submitted too early may not attract the correct payment, and miscoding may create avoidable rejection or reassessment. Firms with high volumes of anti-social behaviour work will need billing protocols, diary controls and supervisor checks updated immediately.
The criminal legal aid position is more distinct because breach of a Respect Order is now a criminal offence. The updated GOV.UK guidance says providers should continue to use the relevant PROV fee code for breaches of youth injunctions, housing injunctions and Part 1 injunctions made before 26 October 2026. Respect Order breaches must be claimed differently. Instead of a PROV fee code, providers should use the relevant undesignated area or designated area standard fee code. The guidance also states that breach claims for Respect Orders can be submitted from 26 October 2026. In effect, anti-social behaviour breach work now splits into two billing routes depending on the type of order and the date the underlying order was made.
The operational material sits across several updated documents. Providers are being pointed to Submit a Bulk Claim guidance, guidance on proceeding codes, the 2025 Standard Crime Contract, the Criminal Bills Assessment Manual, the Criminal Legal Aid Manual, and guidance on using SaBC and CCMS for this category of work. Those documents now form the working rulebook for reporting, claiming and assessment. The broader policy effect is twofold. First, the enforcement model has been tightened by making breach of a Respect Order a criminal matter. Second, the government has confirmed that funded legal support remains in place on both the civil and criminal sides. For providers, the immediate task is administrative but significant: identify the correct order, apply the correct code, and bill on the correct date.