Legislation was laid on 14 November to introduce increased fees for particular police station and youth court matters.
Following a recent consultation with the Law Society and other consultative bodies, we have made draft changes to the Standard Crime Contract 2022 and the Criminal Bills Assessment Manual to support the legislative changes. These changes will become effective on 6 December 2024 and will affect cases that begin on or after that date.
Changes will be made to other guidance documents such as the Guidance for Reporting Crime Lower Work on 6 December 2024.
It should be noted that changes have been made to the CWA billing platform and the Claim for a Non Standard Fee service to allow providers to claim payment on the cases affected by the legislative changes.
Further Information
Draft 2022 Contract Specification - Standard Crime Contract 2022 - GOV.UK
Draft Criminal Bills Assessment Manual - Criminal legal aid: crime regulations, crime contracts, and guidance - GOV.UK
CWA Codes Guidance CWA codes guidance - GOV.UK
Guide to changes in reporting crime lower work - CWA updates to reporting changes - GOV.UK
Crime Lower Consultation - GOV.UK
£24 million boost for criminal legal aid to support most vulnerable - GOV.UK