Bar leaders warn that delays and staff shortages will worsen without urgent funding
The Bar Council and the Criminal Bar Association have urged the government to deliver a promised £34 million criminal legal aid funding increase, warning that continued delays risk worsening pressure across the criminal justice system. In a joint intervention, the organisations criticised the lack of progress almost five months after ministers announced plans to increase criminal legal aid fees for publicly funded barristers and introduce matched funding for criminal pupillages.
The government first made the commitment in early December 2025, stating that the additional investment would help tackle shortages of criminal barristers and support recruitment into publicly funded criminal work. The Bar Council said no meaningful progress has since been made in implementing either the fee increase or the promised pupillage funding scheme.
Kirsty Brimelow, Chair of the Bar Council, has written to the government calling for the process to be accelerated. She warned that delays in investment could lead to barristers leaving criminal practice, increasing adjournments and adding further strain to already overloaded courts.
The intervention follows comments made by Courts Minister Sarah Sackman during scrutiny of the Courts and Tribunals Bill, where she acknowledged that workforce pressures and shortages of prosecutors and defence barristers were major causes of ineffective trials. The Bar Council argued that delivering the promised funding would directly help increase the number of criminal legal aid barristers available to prosecute and defend cases.
According to figures cited by the Bar Council, the number of barristers earning most of their income from criminal legal aid work fell by 11% between 2017/18 and 2020/21. The organisation said numbers recovered only after legal aid investment introduced in 2022.
The decline has been particularly sharp among King’s Counsel specialising mainly in criminal legal aid work, with numbers dropping by almost 25% since 2017/18. The Bar Council also highlighted recommendations made by Brian Leveson in his independent review of criminal courts. Sir Brian recommended that match-funded criminal pupillages should begin immediately to address shortages of criminal advocates.
Riel Karmy-Jones, Chair of the Criminal Bar Association, said there had been limited information from government on how the funding would be distributed despite the public commitment made months ago. Both organisations warned that focusing on structural court reforms, including proposals affecting jury trials, should not delay urgent investment in criminal legal aid and recruitment.