division_name: Business of the House (Today) &#8212; Criminal Legal Aid
motion: <p class="indent" pid="b627.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">That the Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 (S.I., 2018, No. 220), dated <phrase class="date" code="2018-02-20">20 February</phrase> 2018, a copy of which was laid before this House on <phrase class="date" code="2018-02-23">23 February</phrase>, be revoked.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b627.0/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;A murder case at the Old Bailey has become one of the first to be affected by a strike by barristers.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b627.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;A woman accused of murdering Swansea pensioner John Williams has appeared in Crown Court without legal representation because of a barristers&#8217; strike.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b627.1/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the bar council and the young barristers committee welcome new proposals published today&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b627.1/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;as circuit leaders over the period of the negotiations it is our shared view that we should support the implementation of the scheme&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b629.5/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;unrepresented defendants not understanding how to present evidence about their case at hearings, how to prepare defence statements, or how to ask questions in court.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b630.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;As the Circuit Leaders over the period of the negotiations, it is our shared view that we should support the implementation of this proposed scheme.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b631.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;cuts to legal aid and the publicly-funded criminal justice system will set back the cause of improving diversity on the bench.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b632.0/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Today I helped a colleague out by prosecuting the sentencing hearing in one of his cases, in a court 94 miles away from my home. The fee for that hearing is &#163;60. &#163;10 of that goes straight to my chambers as rent. I spent &#163;33 on petrol and &#163;6.30 on parking. The CPS do pay some travel&#8212;I think I&#8217;ll get &#163;23.50 for this. Therefore, I come out with &#163;34. The offence, by the way, was an assault on a baby. It was a 2pm hearing, so I left home at 10 and got home at 5. During those 7 hours, apart from the 10 mins I spent eating my packed lunch, I was either driving, getting ready for the hearing, in court, or explaining the outcome (a prison sentence) to the baby&#8217;s family. I don&#8217;t wish to sound ungrateful for my &#163;34. I just can&#8217;t help but feel a little undervalued. I&#8217;ve been at the criminal Bar for 9 years. The government decides how much to pay me, and I think they take advantage of me, my skills, and my sense of public duty. #TheLawIsBroken&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b635.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The suggested scheme is a fairer way of rewarding advocates for their work&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b635.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;a positive example of the Ministry of Justice participating in constructive dialogue with the profession&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b637.2/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid that I won&#8217;t be able to earn enough to support myself, let alone enough to buy a home, start a family, retire with a decent pension. I hope I&#8217;ll be able to justify staying in this profession, which is so hard but which I already love so much, and which I&#8217;ve invested so much work and money in joining. I don&#8217;t need riches, but I need to be able to live, and my future clients will need me to be able to dedicate the time their cases require and deserve. I need to know I will be paid for my work, or I just won&#8217;t be able to do it. And where will we be if a thousand people in my position come to that conclusion, and there is no one to replace us?&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b644.1/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the CBA believes that the new scheme is a great improvement on what has gone before, and we should at least give it a cautious welcome as a step in the right direction.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="italic" pid="b646.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">The House divided:</p>
  
  <p pid="b646.0/3" pwmotiontext="yes">Ayes 252, Noes 300.</p>