The Criminal Defence Service (Funding) (Amendment No. 3) Order 2010

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Criminal Defence Service (Funding) (Amendment No. 2) Order 2010, to correct errors in that Order. That Order amends the fees that are payable by the Legal Services Commission to advocates under the Criminal Defence Service (Funding) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/1174) and changes the definition of Very High Cost Cases in relation to advocates.

Following a public consultation, a decision was taken to reduce fees in the Advocates Graduated Fee Scheme by 13.5% over 3 years, with a 4.5% reduction each year. Because of errors in the relevant tables, the 2010 Order does not achieve this intention in relation to fees for confiscation hearings; the effect of the errors is that instead of fees for those hearings being reduced by 4.5% in the first year, they are held at existing levels, with reductions starting from April 2011 rather than April 2010 as intended.

This Order rectifies the errors by inserting the correct fee tables for confiscation hearings into the 2010 Order on 26th April 2010,just before the relevant provisions of that Order come into force thus ensuring that the correct fees will be payable from the outset.

An impact assessment relating to the fee changes has been published by the Ministry of Justice and the Legal Services Commission as part of their joint consultation response, “Legal Aid: Reforming Advocates Graduated Fees and Very High Cost (Crime) Cases 2010” and is available from the Ministry of Justice, 102 Petty France, London, SW1H 9AJ or at www.legalservices.gov.uk.

As this Statutory Instrument has been made to correct errors in the 2010 Order, it is being issued free of charge to all known recipients of that Order.