The Legal Aid Agency has published draft amendments to the Standard Crime Contract 2025 specification and to legal aid guidance, following consultation with the Law Society, the Legal Aid Practitioners Group and the Association of Prison Lawyers. The LAA states the final documents will be issued and take effect on Wednesday 31 December 2025.
The agency says the update relates to provisions under the Victims and Prisoners Act. That Act received Royal Assent in May 2024 and has been brought into force through a series of commencement regulations during 2025, including measures on permitted disclosures and parole decision‑making. Providers should read the final text against those commencement dates.
The 2025 Standard Crime Contract has been live since 1 October 2025 and is scheduled to run until 30 September 2035, setting the detailed rules for publicly funded criminal defence work in England and Wales. The specification and standard terms govern delivery and compliance for providers.
On procurement status, the LAA has confirmed that Stages 1 and 2 have closed and that 1,044 providers have been issued contracts to date, while Stage 3 remains open. The contract allows new providers to join and existing organisations to add offices during the term.
For practice managers, the immediate task is operational: compare the draft specification and guidance with internal manuals, ensure supervisors and Police Station Accredited Representatives are briefed, and confirm data security requirements such as Cyber Essentials are current for the 2025 contract.
The draft documents sit within the Standard Crime Contract 2025 collection on GOV.UK. Wider crime billing and costs material remains in the Legal aid guidance pages, which the LAA signposts alongside today’s notice. The agency says the updated final documents will be published on 31 December.
The timetable is tight: eight days separate the draft publication on Tuesday 23 December and commencement on 31 December. Firms should schedule any required training, template updates and case management changes so they are in place from the effective date.
Earlier LAA notices remain relevant for forward planning, including that contracts awarded via Stage 2 are eligible to join duty rotas from January 2026; nothing in today’s draft changes those published dates.