The Ministry of Justice has implemented secondary legislation to increase the fees that Qualified Legal Representatives (QLR) can claim by 10%.
They were initially set at the same level as legal aid rates, which the Law Society correctly warned were inadequate to attract sufficient advocates to the scheme. Law Society of England and Wales president Nick Emmerson said:
“We welcome the MoJ’s continued commitment to improve the QLR scheme, which was brought in to protect survivors of domestic abuse from being cross-examined by their alleged abuser.
However, we’re concerned this will not go far enough. The Law Society’s recent research by Frontier Economics** suggests that more than a 10% increase would be needed to make legal aid fees sustainable and the same would apply to the QLR fees. We will need to monitor this closely to understand if it is having the required impact.
While this is a positive step in the right direction, we won’t know the impact it is having unless the scheme is properly evaluated. Our members often tell us about issues with the scheme and the lack of QLRs available across the country. A thorough examination would bring to light what else needs to be improved.
We encourage the next UK government to closely monitor this change to ensure it makes the scheme sustainable and encourages sufficient practitioners to sign up to provide this vital service.”
