Short answer: the fees go to the firm
The LAA pays legal aid fees to the firm that holds the Standard Crime Contract, not to the individual duty solicitor. What a duty solicitor earns depends on their arrangement with that firm. So "how much does a duty solicitor get paid?" has two answers: what the firm can claim (set by regulations, below), and the solicitor's own salary or fee (set by contract, and not published anywhere reliable).
The police station fixed fee and escape threshold
From 22 December 2025, the Criminal Legal Aid (General and Remuneration) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/1251) harmonised police station attendance fees. Under Schedule 4 to the Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013, as amended:
- The fixed fee for police station attendance is £320 for all police station schemes.
- The escape fee threshold is £650 for all police station schemes.
Before that date, the fixed fee varied by scheme. That's why older articles and calculators show different figures for different areas. Check the date on anything you read.
Hourly rates (used to record time and test the escape threshold)
Schedule 4 sets these police station attendance hourly rates (London / National):
- Own or duty solicitor attendance: £58.97 / £54.57
- Duty solicitor, unsocial hours: £72.46 / £72.46
- Duty solicitor, serious offence rate: £68.21 / £62.96
- Duty solicitor, serious offence rate (unsocial hours): £83.95 / £83.95
- Travel and waiting, own solicitor: £30.22 / £30.22
- Travel and waiting, duty solicitor: £58.97 / £54.57
- Travel and waiting, duty solicitor (unsocial hours): £72.46 / £72.46
The time is recorded at these rates. If the total exceeds £650, the case escapes the fixed fee and is claimed at hourly rates. Try the escape fee calculator to see how a case adds up.
Telephone advice and CDD
Schedule 4 also sets a fixed fee for police station telephone advice of £33.00 (London) / £31.74 (National) per claim, and a Criminal Defence Direct fixed acceptance fee of £8.40 per matter. For how claims are coded, see claiming fees for police station work.
Salaried vs self-employed duty solicitors
The Specification allows duty solicitors to be employees, self-employed, or seconded, provided they are Engaged by the firm: meeting the case-count requirements and working at least 50 hours a month of criminal defence work for that firm from the scheme office (Specification 6.20 to 6.23). That's the only "pay structure" the LAA sets.
- Employed duty solicitors are paid a salary by the firm, which keeps the legal aid fee.
- Self-employed or consultant duty solicitors agree terms with the firm: per case, per hour, or a share of fees.
I'm not quoting salary figures. I haven't found a named, dated survey I'd trust, and job adverts vary too much by region and role to average honestly. If you're negotiating, look at current adverts in your area, such as on rep jobs, and ask firms directly.
Duty solicitor vs rep pay
An accredited representative can do duty and own-client police station work for a firm, but the fee is still the firm's. A freelance rep's pay is whatever the firm agrees to pay them. See police station rep pay and rep fee rates in 2026, and duty solicitor vs rep for the difference in roles.
How to become one
The route is the PSRAS (or PSQ), the Magistrates' Court Qualification and CLAS membership: see how to become a duty solicitor.
Sources (primary): The Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013, Schedule 4 (legislation.gov.uk, as amended). The Criminal Legal Aid (General and Remuneration) (Amendment) Regulations 2025, SI 2025/1251. LAA, Standard Crime Contract 2025, Specification paragraphs 6.20 to 6.23.
General information for practitioners in England and Wales, checked against the sources above on 16 October 2026. Not legal or financial advice. Contract terms and rates change: always check the current LAA documents.