Criminal barristers and legal aid providers have received updated guidance from the Ministry of Justice regarding when they can claim an additional preparation fee under the Advocates' Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS). The clarification comes in the wake of recent adjustments, including an increase to the fixed fee for additional preparation and the extension of this fee to cases where a defendant enters a guilty plea.
The new guidance specifies that the additional preparation fee is now applicable in any scenario where a full guilty plea fee is payable. This ensures that legal professionals representing an assisted person in a guilty plea case can claim this supplementary payment. Furthermore, for cases that are discontinued by the prosecution after evidence has been served, the additional preparation fee can also be claimed, alongside the standard guilty plea fee.
However, the guidance also outlines limitations. Cases that are discontinued before the prosecution has served its evidence will not be eligible for the additional preparation fee. In these instances, legal aid providers will only receive 50% of the basic fee typically paid for a guilty plea. Both types of discontinuance cases should continue to be claimed through the Claim for Crown Court Defence (CCCD) billing tool.
The Ministry of Justice has indicated that the AGFS calculator, a tool used by legal professionals to determine fee entitlements, will be updated to reflect these changes in due course. Details of the new rates and the specific legislative amendments can be found in the Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026 and the updated Crown Court Fee Guidance (paragraph 2.17A).
Claiming the additional preparation fee will involve navigating to the 'miscellaneous fees' or 'misc fees' page within the CCCD billing tool, selecting 'additional preparation fee' from a dropdown list, and completing the submission. The Ministry of Justice has noted that the update to the CCCD system, which will enable the claiming of the increased additional preparation fee in guilty plea cases, may not be available immediately from 28 July 2026. Should there be any delay, further communications will be issued to confirm how providers should submit claims during any interim period.