The UK government is increasing immigration and asylum legal aid fees by 30% to bolster capacity, with an additional £20 million per year investment scheduled to start in late 2025.
This initiative follows a period where over half of applicants struggled to secure legal representation, with spending on immigration legal aid in 2023/24 at £51 million, significantly lower than the cost of asylum hotel accommodation. GOV.UK
Key Details on Legal Aid Spending (UK):
Funding Increase: The Ministry of Justice is implementing a 10% or higher hourly rate uplift for immigration and housing, marking the first major increase since 1996.
Targeted Investment: The £20m injection aims to support vulnerable people, such as victims of modern slavery, and to speed up the processing of asylum cases, thereby reducing hotel costs.
Recent Trends: Immigration legal aid in 2023/24 was roughly £51 million, which is significantly lower than the costs associated with daily asylum hotel accommodation.
Case Volume: In 2023-24, more than 50,000 people seeking asylum or appealing a refusal were left without legal aid representation, Asylum Aid noted in their analysis.
Systemic Issues: While funding is increasing, reports suggest that the reduction in the scope of immigration legal aid under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) has historically shifted costs across government rather than reducing overall expenditure.
The new funding is intended to ensure "hardworking practitioners are properly paid" and to make the legal aid system more sustainable. GOV.UK