Legal aid for inquests: changes to fee schemes

This consultation seeks views on changes to fee scheme arrangements for legal aid in relation to inquests.

In short, we propose to:

• move to a single fee scheme for legal help
• use fee rates for the service elements of legal help alongside the existing fee rates for advocacy related work, within other legal services.

The consultation is aimed at anyone with an interest in the provision of legal aid for inquests conducted within England and Wales. This includes existing and potential providers of civil legal aid in England and Wales, as well as representative bodies, coroners and other members of the judiciary.

We also expect this consultation will be of interest to members of the public, particularly bereaved families with experience of inquests and accessing legal aid.