Police Station Legal Aid Rates 2026/27

The definitive guide to current police station legal aid rates, the harmonised fee structure, and escape fee calculations under the 2025 amendments.

Primary-source check: 1 Oct 2026

Source: The Criminal Legal Aid (General and Remuneration) (Amendment) Regulations 2025, SI 2025/1251 (made 27 November 2025; in force 22 December 2025 (reg 3 from 31 December 2025)). Last checked 1 Oct 2026.

New Harmonised Fee

£320.00

Fixed fee per attendance

Escape Threshold

£650.00

Profit costs to claim hourly rates

Effective Date

22 Dec 2025

Standard Crime Contract

Understanding the 2025 Amendments

From 22 December 2025, the Legal Aid Agency introduced a harmonised fixed fee of £320.00 for all police station attendances. This replaces the previous split between higher and lower fee tiers, creating a single flat rate regardless of offence type or complexity.

The harmonisation aims to simplify billing, reduce disputes, and provide a fairer rate for routine attendances. However, the escape fee mechanism remains in place for cases that exceed the threshold in actual profit costs.

Impact Analysis

For Representatives

✓Single fee simplifies invoicing — one rate for every attendance
✓Higher rate for cases previously in the lower tier
—Lower rate for cases previously in the higher tier
✓Escape mechanism still available for complex cases

For Solicitor Firms

✓Predictable costs per police station attendance
✓Simplified billing and reconciliation with LAA
✓Clearer framework for instructing freelance reps
✓Separate-matter rules clarified: two fixed fees only where the contract’s separate-Matters tests are met — not merely because attendance was split (Standard Crime Contract 2025 Specification paragraphs 4.37–4.41 and 9.77)

The New Escape Fee Mechanism

If profit costs exceed £650, the claim is the £320 fixed fee plus the hourly excess over £650 (not the full hourly total). Criminal Bills Assessment Manual Version 27 section 5.13 and Standard Crime Contract 2025 Specification paragraph 9.94. Follow these two steps:

Calculate Profit Costs

Total up all your time spent on the case at the applicable hourly rates (preparation, attendance, travel, waiting). Include all fee-earner time but exclude disbursements. If the total exceeds £650.00, you have "escaped" the fixed fee.

Compare to Threshold

If your profit costs exceed the £650.00 threshold, submit a claim for the £320 fixed fee plus hourly rates on the amount by which profit costs exceed £650. Keep detailed time records (Criminal Bills Assessment Manual Version 27 section 5.13; Standard Crime Contract 2025 Specification paragraph 9.94).

Claiming Multiple Fees

Claim Two Fees If:

✓The client is released and then re-arrested on a separate matter
✓There are two separate detention periods with a break between them
✓You are instructed for two genuinely distinct matters in separate attendances

Single Fee Only If:

—Multiple offences arise from the same incident or detention period
—Additional interviews take place during the same continuous detention
—A single attendance covers multiple connected matters

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