Legal aid fees in the Illegal Migration Act

The consultation is aimed at anyone with an interest in the provision of immigration and asylum legal aid, specifically the work impacted by the Home Office’s Illegal Migration Bill (IMB). This includes, but is not limited to, members of the legal profession and their professional representative bodies, and legal services regulators.

The Ministry of Justice has published a consultation paper outlining the proposal that for all work undertaken pursuant to Clause 55 of the IMB, hourly rates should be up to 15% higher than existing immigration hourly rates.

The Ministry of Justice seeks input only in relation to the fees applicable to immigration legal aid work being brought into scope by the IMB in England and Wales. The proposed increased hourly rates pertain exclusively to legal aid work as done pursuant to the matters set out in Clause 55 subsections (3)-(4) of the Bill and do not extend to other immigration legal aid matters or any other area of legal aid. Specifically, legal aid services provided to a person served with a removal notice, in relation to the removal notice, including any suspensive appeal brought in relation to the notice and any application under Clause 55 subsection (4) of the Bill (‘IMB Work’).

The consultation period has been extended by 2 weeks and will now close on 7 August 2023, after being open for a total of 6 weeks.

We have carried out an extensive programme of engagement and are providing more time for stakeholders to submit their views to ensure we are able to consider as many perspectives as possible to inform the development of this policy.