Official Statistics Draft

Legal Aid in Northern Ireland: Annual Statistics to March 2025

Statistical Bulletin 2/2025

An Official Statistics Publication.

Published by:
Information & Analysis Unit
Legal Services Agency NI
3rd Floor, AIB Building
92 Ann Street
Belfast
BT1 3HH

Contact: Information & Analysis Unit

Theme: Legal Aid

Email: IAU@lsani.gov.uk

Coverage: Northern Ireland

Frequency of Publication: Annual

Publication date: 30th September 2025

KEY FINDINGS

• At 61,573, the number of legal aid cases granted in 2024/25 represents the lowest annual total over the past six years, down 3.6% on 2023/24 (63,881) and 17.1% lower than in 2019/20 (74,298). This continued reduction reflects more stringent verification of capital threshold as part of the financial eligibility test associated with applications for civil legal services.

• A total of £119,990,900 was authorised from the legal aid fund in 2024/25. This represents the highest annual total on record, and a 45.5% increase on 2019/20 when expenditure totalled £82,453,572.

• In 2024/25, £68.0m (56.6% of total legal aid expenditure) was authorised to solicitor firms, with £51.5m (42.9%) authorised to barristers. The remaining expenditure can be attributed to third party providers.

• Focusing on profit costs alone (excluding VAT and disbursements), the 2024/25 split in expenditure between solicitor firms and barristers narrows to 52.1% and 47.4% respectively.

• Of the £51.5m paid to barristers in 2024/25, a greater proportion was authorised to Junior Counsel (60%) than Senior Counsel (40%).

• In 2024/25, taxed expenditure accounted for 28.2% (£33.8m) of all legal aid expenditure, the vast majority of which (£30.9m) was authorised in relation to civil proceedings.

• During 2024/25, the legal aid grant rate for males (45.9 grants per 1,000 population) was two-and-a-half times that of females (18.5 per 1,000 population). Despite displaying similar grant rates for civil cases (10.3 and 10.5 respectively), males were over four times more likely to be the recipient of legal aid in criminal cases (35.6 vs 8.1).

• In 2024/25, a total of 431 solicitor firms registered on LAMS to provide legal aid services in Northern Ireland. This equates to a rate of 22.4 firms per 100,000 population.

1. INTRODUCTION

This Official Statistics publication provides an in-depth look at legal aid activity during the 2024/25 year and builds upon initial Headline Statistics (Statistical Bulletin 1/2025) released earlier in the year in response to user needs.

While focus remains on the 2024/25 year, comparisons are made back to 2019/20 - the year in which the Legal Services Agency NI (LSANI) launched its new digital case management system (LAMS) as part of an extensive transformation program.

This release introduces a number of enhancements to the Official Statistics series. Notably, for the first time, complete expenditure figures for the full 2019/20 financial year are included. Previous releases had excluded the first quarter due to complexities in reconciling detailed expenditure data across dual case management systems, as LAMS was introduced mid-year on 1 July 2019. As a result of this development, the quarterly breakdowns previously used to facilitate inclusion of the final three quarters of 2019/20 to provide a pre-LAMS and pre-COVID position are no longer required. Given the updated context, they have now been removed.

In addition, this release provides a more granular presentation of annual expenditure. It quantifies the amount of legal aid authorised in respect of taxation during 2024/25 and disaggregates payments to counsel, distinguishing between Junior and Senior Barristers.

1.1 About Legal Services Agency NI

As an executive agency of the Department of Justice (DoJ), the core function of LSANI, as an operational arm of the Department, is to administer publicly funded legal services in Northern Ireland through the:

• processing of applications for civil legal services and authorising of independent legal representation for litigants;

• assessing and payment of bills for the provision of civil legal services and criminal legal aid; and

• provision of a sound evidence base to provide assurances to the Agency’s governance arrangements while supporting wider Departmental policy-led reform projects.

Within Northern Ireland, legal aid is administered and operates across five levels of services: Criminal, Advice and Assistance, Exceptional Funding, Representation Lower and Representation Higher (with the court tier determining the distinction).

Each of these levels of service consists of a range of natures and matters that are used to distinguish between cases. Throughout this report, these natures and matters have further been used to break civil cases into family and non-family cases, with further differentiation of family cases into matrimonial and non-matrimonial cases.

They have also been used to partition Advice and Assistance into criminal advice (PACE) and civil advice (non-PACE). For criminal courts, cases are considered in terms of Court Tier.

2. OVERVIEW OF CASELOAD AND EXPENDITURE, 2019/20 TO 2024/25

2.1 Applications Granted

In 2024/25, a total of 61,573 legal aid applications were granted. Of these, over two-thirds (68%; 41,570) were criminal cases with 32% (20,003) representing civil cases granted by the Agency.

At 61,573, the number of legal aid cases granted in 2024/25 is at its lowest of the past six years. While this latest figure is 4% down on the previous year (2023/24; 63,881), it is 17% lower than 2019/20 (74,298) and 5% lower than 2020/21 (64,775) when the global COVID-19 pandemic and associated national lockdowns were at their peak (Figure 2.1; Table A1).

Figure 2.1: Applications Granted, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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The trends in granted applications since 2019/20 closely mirror the trends in the volume of applications being submitted over this same period (Figure 2.1).

The decline in applications granted in 2020/21 was driven by a 22% (10,595) reduction in criminal grants. This decrease coincides with the introduction of various restrictions and social distancing measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly evident in the first quarter of 2020/21, which had an impact on recorded crime levels and therefore the demand for legal aid services.

In contrast, the more recent downward trajectory in overall grants (since 2021/22) is evident within civil cases and coincides with the enforcing of more stringent verification of capital threshold as part of the financial eligibility test associated with applications for civil legal services. This concept, together with its impact, will be explored and presented further in Sections 3 (Criminal) and 4 (Civil).

2.2 Authorised Expenditure

In terms of expenditure, a total of £120.0m was authorised in 2024/25. While the majority (68%) of legal aid cases granted in 2024/25 were criminal, the split in authorised expenditure was more equal, with criminal authorisations totalling £61.0m (51%) and civil totalling £59.0m (49%).

Authorised expenditure continued to rise in 2024/25, demonstrating the fourth consecutive annual increase since the COVID-impacted year of 2020/21. At £120.0m, 2024/25 authorisations represent the highest annual total on record and equates to a 46% increase (£37.5m) in spend compared with 2019/20 (£82.5m) (Figure 2.2; Table A3).

This record level of expenditure in 2024/25 is reflective of the Agency having the highest annual legal aid budget made available by the Department, allowing a greater amount of bills to be paid by year-end and reducing the carry over of unassessed payment requests into the next reporting year.

Figure 2.2: Annual Authorised Expenditure, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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3. CRIMINAL LEGAL AID, 2019/20 TO 2024/25

This section looks specifically at criminal legal aid, both in terms of the volume of cases granted as well as the respective expenditure from the legal aid fund authorised to criminal cases, the latter of which may partly relate to cases granted in previous years. This section incorporates criminal advice that is administered as part of the wider Advice and Assistance category of service.

3.1 Criminal Grants Of Legal Aid

The grant of criminal legal aid is a judicial function. The statistics in relation to criminal legal aid contained within this bulletin refer to criminal cases where LSANI has been advised by the courts that legal aid has been granted.

While criminal legal aid is administered as a distinct category of service within LSANI, there is also an element of Advice and Assistance (a separate category of service) that is considered criminal, that is: advice and representation given to those in custody at a police station (under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (1984); PACE) hereafter referred to as PACE.

3.1.1 Criminal Applications Granted

In 2024/25, a total of 41,570 criminal legal aid applications were granted. Of these, the majority (57%; 23,865) were for Criminal Court proceedings, with the remaining 43% (17,705) related to criminal Advice and Assistance under PACE.

While the number of criminal grants had increased year-on-year since 2020/21, 2024/25 showed a decrease of 6% (2,690) compared with 2023/24. This reduction was evident within both Criminal Court (down 5%; 1,370), and PACE (down 7%; 1,320) cases (Figure 3.1; Table A1).

Figure 3.1: Criminal Applications Granted by Category, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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3.1.2 Criminal Courts

Legal aid for Criminal Court cases allows representation in a criminal case. These cases usually take place in the Magistrates’ Courts or Crown Court.

A full breakdown of criminal court applications granted by court tier can be found in Table A1.

Criminal Courts accounted for the largest proportion (39%; 23,865) of all legal aid applications granted in 2024/25, the vast majority of which continue to be in relation to Magistrates’ Courts cases (85%; 20,252). Under one-in-ten (9%; 2,231) criminal cases awarded legal aid took place in the Crown Court; with the remaining 6% (1,382) taking place in other courts.

Following a 25% (7,013) decline in Criminal Courts applications granted between 2019/20 and 2020/21 as a direct result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Criminal Courts grants increased by 20% (4,082) in 2021/21 as part of the post-COVID recovery and have since remained fairly consistent, showing a moderate decrease of 5% (1,370) in 2024/25 (Figure 3.2; Table A1).

Figure 3.2: Annual Criminal Courts Applications Granted, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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3.1.3 Criminal Advice and Assistance (PACE)

Legal advice and representation given to those in custody at a police station (under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (1984); PACE) constitutes the criminal side of Advice and Assistance.

Criminal Advice and Assistance (PACE) applications accounted for 29% (17,705) of all legal aid applications granted in 2024/25.

Following three consecutive years of increase since 2020/21, when PACE grants were at a series low as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Criminal Advice and Assistance (PACE) applications experienced a 7% (1,320) decline in the latest year. This recent downturn is reflective of the decrease reported by the PSNI in terms of PACE arrests over the same 12-month period (Figure 3.3; Table A1).

Figure 3.3: Annual Criminal Advice and Assistance (PACE) Applications Granted, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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3.2 Criminal Authorised Expenditure

3.2.1 Criminal Authorised Expenditure

In 2024/25, a total of £61.0m criminal legal aid expenditure was authorised. Of this, the majority (96%; £58.8m) was for Criminal Court proceedings, with the remaining 4% (£2.2m) accounting for criminal Advice and Assistance (PACE). With the exception of 2020/21, criminal expenditure has steadily increased year-on-year, with spend in 2024/25 up 42% (£17.9m) since 2019/20 (Figure 3.4; Table A3).

Figure 3.4: Annual Authorised Criminal Expenditure, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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3.2.2 Criminal Courts

Criminal Courts cases accounted for almost half (49%; £58.8m) of all legal aid expenditure in 2024/25. The largest proportion of Criminal Courts expenditure was in relation to Crown Court proceedings (54%; £31.6m); while 38% (£22.2m) was in relation to the Magistrates’ Courts. Just 8% (£4.9m) of Criminal Courts expenditure was in relation to other court tiers.

Authorised legal aid expenditure for Criminal Courts cases has seen four consecutive annual increases since 2020/21, with a notable increase of 16% (£8.1m) in 2024/25. This was largely driven by increases in expenditure on Crown Court (up £6.5m) and Magistrates’ Courts (up £2.7m) cases; in contrast, expenditure on Criminal Court of Appeal cases decreased by £1.1m over the latest year (Figure 3.5; Table A3).

Figure 3.5: Annual Criminal Courts Expenditure, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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3.2.3 Criminal Advice and Assistance (PACE)

Despite representing 29% of all grants in 2024/25, payments authorised for Criminal Advice and Assistance (PACE) cases accounted for only 2% (£2.2m) of total legal aid expenditure showing the relatively low value of these cases. Following an increase of 33% in 2023/24, Criminal PACE expenditure fell slightly (4%; £86k) during 2024/25 (Figure 3.6; Table A3). This is reflective of the drop in PACE grants over the same period (Section 3.1.3).

Of particular note in Figure 3.6 is the substantial drop in authorised expenditure for PACE cases during 2020/21, which coincided with the onset of COVID-19 and the first national lockdown. Prior to this, annual PACE expenditure consistently exceeded £3 million. The pandemic prompted a rapid shift to alternative methods of delivering advice - most notably, the adoption of remote access via video calls in place of traditional face-to-face, in-person arrangements. These new approaches have since become embedded practice. Alongside associated reductions in travel and mileage costs, this has resulted in sustained lower expenditure compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Figure 3.6: Annual Criminal Advice and Assistance (PACE) Expenditure, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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4. CIVIL LEGAL AID, 2019/20 TO 2024/25

This section looks specifically at civil legal aid, both in terms of the volume of cases granted as well as the respective expenditure from the legal aid fund authorised to civil cases, the latter of which may partly relate to cases granted in previous years.

4.1 Civil Grants Of Legal Aid

4.1.1 Civil Applications Granted

In 2024/25, a total of 20,003 civil legal aid applications were granted. Of these, similar proportions were for Representation Lower (39%; 7,719) and Representation Higher (38%; 7,697) proceedings, with a further 23% (4,565) related to Advice and Assistance (civil).

While the number of civil grants has remained relatively constant since 2022/23, there has been a substantial drop compared with the preceding years. This has resulted from a sharp reduction in the number of grants of Advice and Assistance (Figure 4.1; Table A1), which is explored further in Section 4.1.2.

Figure 4.1: Civil Applications Granted by Category of Service, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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4.1.2 Advice And Assistance

Advice and Assistance allows advice from a solicitor on any point of Northern Ireland law. It can cover many legal problems such as personal injury, divorce, disputes over children, employment matters and housing. Civil Advice and Assistance excludes criminal PACE.

Grants of Advice and Assistance continue to display a year-on-year downward trend, accounting for less than a quarter (23%) of all civil legal aid applications granted in 2024/25. This decrease is most stark in 2022/23, when granted applications fell by over half (51%), from 12,088 to 5,885. This coincided with new guidance issued with effect from 21st February 2022 in respect of more stringent verification of capital threshold as part of the Advice and Assistance financial eligibility test, which led to a reduction in civil Advice and Assistance applications being submitted.

As in previous years, the majority of Advice and Assistance applications granted in 2024/25 (79%; 3,593) were in relation to non-family matters, with 21% (972) relating to family matters.

While most Primary Natures within Advice and Assistance show substantial reductions in grants since 2019/20 of between 61% (Child Proceedings) and 96% (Criminal Matters), “Other” Primary Natures, in contrast, show only a modest decrease of 9% (Figure 4.2 and Table A2). It is worth noting that this particular nature is dominated by Immigration matters, that have seen grants increase on the whole since 2019/20 as these matters are less likely to be impacted by the capital threshold restriction.

A full breakdown of civil grants, by Primary Nature, since 2019/20 is detailed in Table A2.

Figure 4.2: Breakdown of Advice and Assistance Grants by Primary Nature, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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4.1.3 Representation Lower

Representation Lower means representation in proceedings in the lower courts, usually the Magistrates’ Court. The types of cases heard in the Magistrates’ Courts include separation, maintenance, cases involving children, protection orders like a Non-molestation Order and paternity cases.

Representation Lower applications accounted for 39% (7,719) of all civil legal aid applications granted in 2024/25. This represents a 4% increase on 2023/24 and surpasses the previous series high of 7,610 in 2020/21.

Consistent with previous years, the vast majority (94%; 7,288) of Representation Lower applications granted in 2024/25 were in relation to family matters, with just 6% (431) relating to non-family matters.

For presentational purposes, the four Representation Lower Children Order Primary Natures have been grouped into one category, and four primary natures (Tribunal, Quasi criminal, Maintenance and Debt / Ejectment) with small numbers of applications granted have been grouped into a ‘Miscellaneous’ category in the following section.

The trend observed across the previous four years of an increasing proportion of Representation Lower applications coming from Children’s Order cases, and a corresponding decrease in the proportion of Family Homes Domestic Violence cases continued in 2024/25. Children’s Order cases now make up 70% of Representation Lower applications granted while less than a quarter (24%) are Family Homes Domestic Violence cases. Parole and Miscellaneous natures remain consistent with previous years, each making up 3% of Representation Lower applications granted (Figure 4.3; Table A2).

Figure 4.3: Breakdown of Representation Lower Grants by Primary Nature, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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4.1.4 Representation Higher

Representation Higher means representation in proceedings in the higher courts like the County Court, High Court and Supreme Court.

Representation Higher applications accounted for 38% (7,697) of all civil legal aid applications granted in 2024/25. After three consecutive years of relatively stable volumes, this equates to a 9% increase (614) on 2023/24.

At 53% (4,114) a slightly higher proportion of Representation Higher grants in 2024/25 were for family matters, with the remaining 47% (3,583) for non-family cases. Within family grants, the majority (72%) related to non-matrimonial matters, with 28% granted in relation to matrimonial proceedings (Table A2).

Family Representation Higher grants have exceeded non-family grants in five of the past six years. After an even split in 2022/23, the proportion has held steady at 53% for family and 47% for non-family over the last two years.

For presentational purposes, the four Representation Higher Children Order Primary Natures have been grouped into one category, and various Primary Natures with relatively small expenditure (Parole, Maintenance, Land/property, Quasi criminal, Debt/ejectment, Family Homes Domestic Violence and Asylum & Immigration) have been grouped into a ‘Miscellaneous’ to ensure the grouping remains the same in Sections 4.1.3 and 4.2.3. A full breakdown of applications granted by primary natures is available in Table A2.

In 2024/25, over one-third (35%) of grants were Children Order related, with a fifth (20%) accounting for High Court Bail. The composition of Representation Higher granted applications by Primary Nature has remained relatively unchanged in recent years, with around three-quarters of all Representation Higher grants being in relation to Children Order, High Court Bail and Matrimonial/Civil Partnership natures, since 2019/20 (Figure 4.4; Table A2).

Figure 4.4: Breakdown of Representation Higher Applications Granted by Primary Nature, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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4.1.5 Exceptional Funding

Exceptional Funding allows representation in cases (such as inquests) which are not covered by any other legal aid scheme.

The low volume of Exceptional Funding cases accounted for only 0.1% (22) of the total civil legal aid grants in 2024/25. Of these, the majority (18; 82%) were in relation to Inquests, with the remaining four relating to A breach of the Human Rights Act or enforceable EU rights.

Following three years of a relatively consistent level of Exceptional Funding grants, the past two years have shown a net decrease of around one-third, from 31 grants in 2022/23 to 22 in 2024/25, the lowest level observed in the time series (Figure 4.5; Table A1).

Figure 4.5: Annual Exceptional Funding Applications Granted, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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4.2 Civil Authorised Expenditure

4.2.1 Civil Authorised Expenditure

In 2024/25, authorised expenditure for civil legal aid totalled £59.0m, of which the majority (78%; £46.2m) related to Representation Higher cases. Civil expenditure had steadily increased since 2019/20, rising from £39.4m to £61.0m in 2023/24, before displaying a 3% (£2.0m) decrease in 2024/25. This reduction was driven by a 12% (£6.4m) fall in expenditure on Representation Higher proceedings (Figure 4.6; Tables A3 and A4).

Figure 4.6: Annual Authorised Civil Expenditure, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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4.2.2 Advice and Assistance

While Advice and Assistance cases accounted for 23% of all civil legal aid applications granted in 2024/25, they accounted for a much smaller proportion of civil expenditure, at 4% (£2.4m; Tables A1 and A3).

As in previous years, non-family cases made up the vast majority (88%; £2.1m) of Advice and Assistance in 2024/25, with a modest £0.3m (12%) spent on family matters (Table A3).

Despite a continued downward trend in the number of Advice and Assistance applications being granted, there was a significant increase in expenditure of £0.7m (43%) between 2023/24 and 2024/25. This equates to the highest expenditure in this category of service over the past six years . This increase was primarily driven by expenditure in Immigration (up £0.6m) and Education Issues (up £0.1m) matters, both of which fall within the ‘Other’ Primary Nature category (Figure 4.7; Table A4).

For presentational purposes, two Primary Natures (Parole Matters and Housing & Debt) with relatively small expenditure have been grouped into a ‘Miscellaneous’ category in the following section. A full breakdown of expenditure by Primary Natures is available in Table A4.

Figure 4.7: Breakdown of Advice and Assistance Expenditure by Primary Nature, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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4.2.3 Representation Lower

While Representation Lower cases accounted for 39% of all civil legal aid applications granted in 2024/25, they represented just over a tenth (12%; £7m) of civil expenditure.

In 2024/25, Representation Lower expenditure increased by around a fifth (19%; £1.1m), to a level comparable to that observed in 2022/23. As in previous years, the vast majority of the Representation Lower expenditure in 2024/25 (93%; £6.5m) was in relation to family proceedings; while just 7% (£0.5m) was in relation to non-family cases (Figure 4.8; Table A3).

For presentational purposes, the four Representation Lower Children Order Primary Natures have been grouped into one category, and four primary natures (Tribunal, Quasi criminal, Maintenance and Debt / Ejectment) with small numbers of applications granted have been grouped into a ‘Miscellaneous’ category in the following section.

The breakdown of Representation Lower expenditure by Primary Nature also remains consistent with previous years, with around three-quarters (77% in 2024/25; £5.4m), relating to Children’s Order cases and a further 15% (£1.1m) authorised on Family Home Domestic Violence cases (Table A4).

Figure 4.8: Breakdown of Representation Lower Expenditure by Primary Nature, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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4.2.4 Representation Higher

Although Representation Higher cases accounted for under two-fifths (38%) of civil grants in 2024/25, they accounted for over three-quarters (78%; £46.2m) of civil legal aid expenditure in this year.

Over 71% (£32.9m) of Representation Higher authorised expenditure in 2024/25 was in relation to family cases; with the remaining 29% (£13.3m) relating to non-family cases. In terms of family expenditure, the majority (88%; £28.9m) was in relation to non-matrimonial cases, with the remaining 12% (£4.0m) authorised on matrimonial proceedings (Table A3).

Annual legal aid expenditure on Representation Higher cases had been displaying a consistently increasing trend since 2019/20 until 2024/25 when expenditure dropped by 12% (£6.4m), though 2024/25 still remains the second highest level since 2019/20. This recent decrease in expenditure was driven by a substantial reduction (29%; £5.5m) in authorisations on non-family (Table A3).

For presentational purposes, the four Representation Higher Children Order Primary Natures have been grouped into one category, and various primary natures with relatively small expenditure (Parole, Maintenance, Land/property, Quasi criminal, Debt/ejectment, Family Homes Domestic Violence and Asylum & Immigration) have been grouped into a ‘Miscellaneous’ category in the following section. A full breakdown of expenditure by Primary Natures is available in Table A4.

While just over one-third (35%) of Representation Higher applications granted in 2024/25 were in relation to Children Order cases, these proceedings accounted for around three-fifths (61%; £27.9m) of the equivalent expenditure. Annual expenditure on Children Order cases had risen year-on-year between 2020/21 and 2023/24, before showing a minor 3% (£1.0m) decrease in 2024/25 (Figure 4.9; Table A4).

Figure 4.9: Breakdown of Representation Higher Expenditure by Primary Nature, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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4.2.5 Exceptional Funding

In 2024/25, Exceptional Funding accounted for 0.1% of civil applications granted (Section 4.1.5) and 6% (£3.5m) of civil legal aid expenditure. The vast majority (98%; £3.4m) of Exceptional Funding expenditure in 2024/25 was related to inquests, while the remaining 2% (£72k) was in relation to A breach of the Human Rights Act or enforceable EU rights.

At £3.5m in 2024/25, expenditure on Exceptional Funding cases is at its highest of the past six years, and is in direct contrast to the low of £87k authorised in 2022/23 that can be directly attributed to a large recoupment of legal aid funds following settlement of Legacy Inquest cases.

Figure 4.10: Annual Exceptional Funding Expenditure, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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4.3 Family vs Non-Family

This section combines grants and expenditure of family law and non-family law cases across all categories of service, collating the individual observations made throughout Section 4.

4.3.1 Grants of Family vs Non-Family Legal Aid

In 2024/25, family law accounted for 62% (12,374) of all civil legal aid granted applications. This marks an increase in the proportion of family law grants compared to 51% in 2019/20 (Figure 4.11; A1).

The upward proportionate trend is reflective of the overall decline in Advice and Assistance grants (see Section 4.1.2) that is more likely to impact on non-family law matters.

Figure 4.11: Breakdown of Granted Applications Family vs Non-Family, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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In 2024/25, grants for family law proceedings were primarily for Representation Lower (59%; 7,288) cases, followed by Representation Higher (33%; 4,114). In contrast, grants of non-family law applications were mostly, and equally (both 47%) in respect of both Advice and Assistance (3,593) and Representation Higher (3,583) cases (Figure 4.12; Table A1).

Figure 4.12: Breakdown of Granted Applications Family vs Non-Family by Category of Service in 2024/25

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4.3.2 Authorised Expenditure of Family Vs Non-Family

In 2024/25, family law accounted for just over two-thirds (67%; £39.6m) of civil legal aid expenditure with the remaining one-third attributed to non-family proceedings (£19.4m) (Figure 4.13; Table A3).

Figure 4.13: Breakdown of Authorised Expenditure Family vs Non-Family, in 2024/25

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In 2024/25, expenditure on family matters was primarily authorised for Representation Higher cases (83%; £32.9m), with least expenditure on Advice and Assistance cases (1%), a trend evident across all years.

A similar pattern emerges in non-family proceedings where once again, in 2024/25, expenditure was mostly authorised for Representation Higher cases (68%; £13.3m), though this was followed by Exceptional Funding where there is no family breakdown (18%; £3.5m) and then Advice and Assistance (11%; £2.1m) (Figure 4.14; Table A3).

Figure 4.14: Breakdown of Authorised Expenditure Family vs Non-Family by Category of Service, in 2024/25

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4.4 Children Order Cases, Public v Private law

Representation Lower and Representation Higher Children Order cases can be further broken down into public and private law. Public law applications are those brought by local authorities and include matters such as care, supervision and emergency protection orders. Private law applications are those brought by private individuals, generally in connection with divorce or the parents’ separation. This section of the report details current levels and historical trends in public and private Children Order granted applications and expenditure.

It should be noted that there are a small number of Children Order cases within the Advice and Assistance scheme, however it is not possible to determine whether these are public or private cases. Therefore, these cases have been excluded from this section of the report. For information, there were 156 Advice and Assistance Children Order applications granted in 2024/25, and a total expenditure of £9,161 on these case types in 2024/25.

4.4.1 Children Order Applications Granted

Following a slight decrease (6%; 423) in the number of Children Order applications granted between 2021/22 and 2022/23, there have been two consecutive years of increase (Figure 4.15; Table A5). The latest figure for 2024/25 (8,129) is the highest in the series and represents an 8% increase on the previous year (7,518; 2023/24).

Throughout the time period 2019/20 to 2024/25, there was a fairly even split of private and public Children Order applications granted. In 2024/25, 50% (4,066) of Children Order applications granted were in relation to public cases and 50% (4,063) represented private cases.

The largest proportion of Children Order applications granted in each year between 2019/20 and 2024/25 was in relation to private Representation Lower Children Order cases (Figure 4.15; Table A5). In 2024/25, these applications accounted for 39% (3,187) of all Children Order applications granted.

Public and private Children Order applications granted within both Representation Higher and Representation Lower experienced increases over the year to 2024/25, with the largest increase recorded within the public Representation Lower category (219; 11%).

Figure 4.15: Representation Higher and Representation Lower Children Order Applications Granted by Category of Service, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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4.4.2 Children Order Authorised Expenditure

Children Order expenditure has been similar in the most recent three years (Figure 4.16; Table A6), with the figure for 2024/25 (£33.4m) just 0.5% lower than that recorded in 2023/24 (£33.5m).

While total Children Order applications granted have been fairly evenly split between public and private Children Order applications (Figure 4.15), the majority of Children Order expenditure from 2019/20 to 2024/25 was in relation to public cases. Public Children Order expenditure represented 70% (£23.3m) of the total Children Order expenditure in 2024/25.

While private Representation Lower Children Order cases accounted for the largest proportion of Children Order applications granted in each year of the series (Figure 4.15), they accounted for a much smaller proportion of the expenditure (Figure 4.16; Table A6). In 2024/25, private Representation Lower cases accounted for a tenth (10%; £3.2m) of Children Order expenditure.

Public Representation Higher Children Order cases accounted for the majority of Children Order expenditure in each year between 2019/20 and 2024/25. This category accounted for almost two thirds (63%; £21.1m) of 2024/25 Children Order expenditure.

Private Representation Higher Children Order cases accounted for around a fifth (21%; £6.9m) of 2024/25 Children Order expenditure; while Public Representation Lower cases accounted for the smallest proportion of Children Order expenditure, at 7% (£2.2m) of 2024/25 Children Order expenditure.

Figure 4.16: Representation Higher and Representation Lower Children Order Authorised Expenditure by Category of Service, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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5. TAXED EXPENDITURE

In the context of legal aid, taxed expenditure is defined as any payment within a case where the costs to be paid to a supplier have been assessed and determined outside of the Agency. This role is typically undertaken by the Taxing Master, or by a District Judge in County Court cases. At this point, a bill of costs is submitted to LSANI, along with the Taxation Certificate produced during this process, to be authorised for payment. This is an important distinction to note when considering annual expenditure as while taxed cases are funded from the legal aid budget in Northern Ireland, the Agency has no control or input to manage such expenditure.

Associated payments to Third Party Payees in these cases are not subject to taxation so are excluded from this analysis as they are dealt with under a separate contract held with LSANI and paid directly.

All other payment requests received by the Agency are subject to routine assessment processes.

It is not possible to provide a complete picture of the number of taxed cases granted in a set time period as it is not until a Report on Case is submitted that the Agency becomes aware that the case is taxed.

5.1 Taxed Expenditure 2024/25

As outlined in Figure 5.1, taxed expenditure, across both criminal and civil cases, accounted for over a quarter (28%; £33.8m) of all legal aid payments authorised in 2024/25 (£120.0m).

Figure 5.1: Breakdown of Expenditure, 2024/25

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5.2: Taxed Expenditure 2024/25 by Category of Service

Within criminal legal aid, all Criminal Court of Appeal bills submitted to the Agency will have undergone the taxation process and represent the only criminal expenditure that is taxed. In 2024/25, £2.9m of criminal expenditure was authorised in this manner, accounting for just under 5% of all criminal spend and 9% of all taxed expenditure.

In contrast, at £30.9 million, the vast majority of taxed expenditure in 2024/25 was authorised against civil cases, accounting for over half (52%) of all civil spend (£59.0m) and 91% of all taxed expenditure (Figure 5.2; Table A7).

Within civil legal aid, Representation Higher is the only Category of Service subject to the taxation process, with just over two-thirds (67%) of its expenditure paid in this manner.

Within civil taxed expenditure, the majority (71%; £21.9m) related to family cases whilst 29% (£9.0m) related to non-family proceedings (Figure 5.2; Table A7).

Figure 5.2 Breakdown of Taxed Expenditure by Category of Service, 2024/25

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Table A8 provides a breakdown of civil taxed expenditure in 2024/25, by Primary Nature. It is apparent that Children Order cases account for the majority of civil taxation (58%; £17.8m), followed by Judicial Reviews at £4.8m (16%).

6. ASSISTED PERSONS

This section provides an overview of the characteristics of applicants to whom legal aid was granted in 2024/25, either by the Courts or the Agency, with a focus on age, gender and geographic location.

The figures in this section are derived from personal information recorded as part of the formal application process. In cases where such information is unknown or not available, they have been excluded from the respective analyses.

As legal aid is awarded and administered on a case-level basis, it is not possible to examine applications on an individual (person) basis. If the same individual is granted legal aid on multiple occasions within the reporting period, their characteristics will feature several times within the data.

6.1 Age and Gender of Assisted Persons

In 2024/25, a total of 285 legal aid grants were issued where the gender and/or age of the assisted person was not recorded at the time of application. These cases have been excluded from the following socio-demographic analysis.

It is evident from Figure 6.1 and Table A9 that legal aid is more frequently granted to males than females. In 2024/25, 29% (18,081) of all applications were granted to females, compared with 71% to males (43,396). This male dominance in overall legal aid grants is driven by the vastly higher number of grants to males in criminal proceedings.

For both genders, the 30–39 age group displayed the highest volume of grants, accounting for just over a third of both female (35%; 6,404) and male (34%; 14,781) grants in 2024/25. The second most common age group was 40–49, comprising 19% (3,369) of female grants and 17% (7,433) of male grants (Figure 6.1; Table A9).

Figure 6.1: Applications Granted by Age and Gender, 2024/25

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When standardised using the latest Northern Ireland mid-year population estimates, individuals aged 25 to 39 were the most likely to receive legal aid in 2024/25, regardless of gender. Males aged 30–39 displayed the highest overall grant rate at 119.8 per 1,000 population, followed closely by those aged 25–29 (119.1). Among females, the corresponding rates were notably lower at 49.0 and 44.0 respectively (Table A9).

At 45.9 per 1,000 population, the overall legal aid grant rate for males was two-and-a-half that of females (18.5 per 1,000). Despite displaying similar grant rates for civil cases (10.3 for males and 10.5 for females), males were over four times more likely to be the recipient of criminal legal aid (35.6 compared with 8.1).

To further explore the relationship between age, gender, and legal aid uptake, a relative index was calculated. This index divides the number of grants to each age-gender group by the corresponding population estimate, and then normalises these values against the group with the lowest utilisation – in this case females aged 60+, set as the reference value of 1.

The results indicate that a male aged 30–39 is 44.8 times more likely to receive legal aid than a female aged 60+ (the reference group), while a female counterpart aged 30-39 is 18.3 times more likely. Males aged 25–29 followed closely with an index of 44.6, with females in this group displaying an index score of 16.5.

While civil legal aid uptake was broadly similar across both genders, a disparity becomes clear in criminal cases. As illustrated in Figure 6.2, both males and females aged 25–29 had comparable civil index values (16.3 and 16.6 respectively), but diverged significantly in criminal legal aid, with males reaching an index of 79.0 compared to 16.3 for females (Figure 6.2; Table A9).

Figure 6.2: Relative (legal aid) utilisation index values by age-gender bands, 2024/25

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As civil legal aid in Northern Ireland is predominantly granted in relation to family matters (Section 4.3), it is perhaps unsurprising that middle-aged groups display the higher indexes, where the presence of dependent children is more common. This demographic pattern is consistent across both males and females, reflecting the adversarial nature of family law proceedings in which both parties—often parents—are typically involved in the one case.

In contrast, criminal legal aid displays a marked gender disparity. This aligns with the latest Official Statistics from the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPSNI), which reported that 77% of suspects on case files received in 2024/25 were male, while the largest proportion of suspects (29%) fell within the 26–35 age group, with 70% aged between 18 and 45. These figures closely mirror the demographic profile of those receiving criminal legal aid to support their defence.

6.2 Geographic Location of Assisted Persons

Northern Ireland is comprised of 11 Council Areas, formally referred to as Local Government Districts (LGDs). Where a valid postcode has been provided as part of the application process, this has been used to assign a LGD (council area).

From Table A10 it is apparent that, in 2024/25, the greatest volume of legal aid applications were granted to applicants in the Belfast LGD. At 16,492, grants to those in Belfast were almost three times that of the second highest district (Derry City, and Strabane; 5,661).

Once standardised by the resident population of each LGD (to produce comparable statistics), Belfast still displays the highest rate of grants (47.0 per 1,000 population), followed by Derry City and Strabane (37.5) and Lisburn and Castlereagh (36.7) LGDs, which are all above the NI average of 32.1 per 1,000 population (Figures 6.3 and 6.4).

Figure 6.3 Applications granted per 1,000 population, by Local Government District, 2024/25

In terms of criminal cases, Belfast displays the highest rate of grants at 31.6 per 1,000 population. This is 50% higher than the Northern Ireland average (21.6) and compares with the second highest rate of 26.3 in Derry City and Strabane. However, when it comes to civil legal aid, Lisburn & Castlereagh LGD displays the highest rate at 20.1 per 1,000 population, with Belfast second highest at 15.4.

Not only does Lisburn & Castlereagh display the highest rate of civil grants per 1,000 population across NI (20.1), and a rate that is almost double the NI average (10.4), but interestingly, it is also the only council area in Northern Ireland where civil grants exceeded criminal grants in 2024/25 (Figure 6.3 and Table A10). While the rate of criminal grants is comparable with other regions, it is the particularly high rate of civil grants to applicants within this LGD that causes this distortion. This is driven by the unique make-up of the local resident population that incorporates both HM Prison Maghaberry and Hydebank Young Offenders Centre. Of the 3,036 civil applications granted to those in the Lisburn & Castlereagh LGD, the majority were granted to applicants registered in these establishments in 2024/25. It has been estimated that removing these cases from the analysis would generate a civil grant rate in line with other similar LGDs.

Finally, the 2024/25 legal aid grant rate is lowest for applicants living in Fermanagh and Omagh (17.3 per 1,000 population) and Mid Ulster (17.4), with both LGDs displaying similar rates for both criminal (12.6 and 12.3 respectively) and civil (4.7 and 5.1 respectively) grants (Table A10).

Figure 6.4 Applications granted per 1,000 population, by Local Government District, 2024/25

Local Government District (LGD)	Applications granted per 1,000 population - Criminal	Applications granted per 1,000 population - Civil	Applications granted per 1,000 population - Total
Antrim and Newtownabbey	14.3	7.4	21.6
Ards and North Down	13.0	6.8	19.9
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon	16.8	7.7	24.5
Belfast	31.6	15.4	47.0
Causeway Coast and Glens	13.6	8.4	22.0
Derry City and Strabane	26.3	11.2	37.5
Fermanagh and Omagh	12.6	4.7	17.3
Lisburn and Castlereagh	16.6	20.1	36.7
Mid and East Antrim	16.2	6.6	22.8
Mid Ulster	12.3	5.1	17.4
Newry, Mourne and Down	16.2	7.5	23.7
Northern Ireland (Total)	21.6	10.4	32.1

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6.3 Grants by area of deprivation

Financial eligibility is a key determinant in assessing entitlement to legal aid and, as such, grant volumes would be expected to correlate with an area’s levels of deprivation. Analysis of 2024/25 data confirm this relationship, with the highest number of legal aid grants issued to applicants in the most deprived areas of Northern Ireland (MDM Quintile 1), across both criminal and civil case types (Figure 6.5; Table A11). In contrast, the lowest volume of grants were recorded in the least deprived areas (MDM Quintile 5).

A clear linear trend is observed, whereby the number of grants decreases as deprivation levels fall. This pattern is particularly pronounced in criminal cases. Civil grants also follow this trend overall, although a deviation is noted in Quintile 4. This anomaly may reflect the specific nature of certain civil matters and the influence of HM Prison Maghaberry, which is located within this quintile.

Figure 6.5: Applications granted by multiple deprivation, 2024/25

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7. PROVIDERS OF LEGAL AID SERVICES, 2019/20 TO 2024/25

This section explores the distribution of legal aid services throughout Northern Ireland by registered providers, mostly consisting of legal practitioners. Insight into registrations over time, as well as geographical location of solicitor firms with attributed legal aid expenditure, is presented to the year ending March 2025.

Legal aid services in Northern Ireland are delivered to assisted persons through three main providers who must first register with the Agency to create an account on the Legal Aid Management System (LAMS):

• Solicitors – generally the first point of contact for legal aid applicants providing advice and legal representation in matters dealt with in the lower courts;
• Barristers – consisting of Junior Counsel (Barristers at Law) and Senior Counsel (King’s Counsel) who provide legal representation for applicants in the higher courts; and
• Third Party Payees – interpreting/translation related services paid directly by LSANI.

In response to user demand, the methodology used to report on supplier registrations was updated prior to the release of 2024/25 figures. As a result of this change previously reported figures prior to 2024/25 were rebased accordingly.

Under the previous methodology, reporting was based on raw supplier registration data. The revised approach introduces additional data processing, improving the accuracy of the reported number of registered suppliers.

This enhancement ensures more reliable and consistent reporting over time.

7.1 Registered Providers

7.1.1 Solicitor Firms

During 2024/25, a total of 431 solicitor firms registered on LAMS to provide legal aid services, a similar number to that recorded in 2019/20 when LAMS went live (434). While the total number of solicitor firms receiving payment during 2024/25 (374) was consistent with that in 2023/24 (376), it reveals a drop of 13% (55) compared with 2019/20 (429) (Figure 7.1; Table A12).

Factoring in the Northern Ireland population, the number of firms registered in 2024/25 equates to 22 firms per 100,000 population (Figure 7.4; Table A13).

Fig 7.1: Solicitor Firms, 2019/20 to 2024/25

	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25
Registered Solicitor Firms	434	447	461	450	444	431
Solicitor Firms receiving payment	429	394	404	405	376	374

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7.1.2 Barristers

During 2024/25, there were 639 barristers registered on LAMS to provide legal services. Whilst this represents an increase of 38 (6%) barristers since LAMS went live in 2019/20, there was no change in the number of registered barristers from 2023/24.

The total number of barristers receiving payment during 2024/25 showed a decrease (19; 4%) from 2019/20.

Compared with 2019/20, the total number of both Junior and Senior Counsel has increased. Junior Counsel rose by 1% (5), while Senior Counsel saw a more substantial increase of 34% (33). No change was observed in either category from 2023/24 (Figure 7.2; Table A12).

Fig 7.2: Barristers 2019/20 to 2024/25

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7.1.3 Third Party Payees

During 2024/25, there were five Third Party Payees registered on LAMS to provide legal services (Figure 7.3; Table A12).

Fig 7.3: Third Party Payees 2019/20 to 2024/25

	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25
Third Party Payees	4	4	4	7	6	5
Third Party Payees receiving payment	3	4	4	6	4	3

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7.2 Registered Solicitor Firms by Location

With a solicitor being the first point of contact for legal aid applicants it is useful to consider the location of solicitor firms to help understand access to justice for the NI population. However, it should be noted that proximity of a residing population to a solicitor firm will provide a partial indication to how well an area is serviced for access to legal aid. Other factors such as proximity to court venue, number of solicitors per firm and area deprivation levels would need to be considered to get a fuller picture.

Figure 7.4 (Table A13) shows the number of solicitor firms registered during 2024/25 by Local Council area (LGD), number of firms per 100,000 population as well as average minimum distance to nearest solicitor firm.

Figure 7.4: Registered Solicitor Firms, Firms per 100,000 population and average minimum distance to nearest Firm (miles) by Local Government District (LGD), 2024/25

Local Government District	Solicitor Firms	Firms per 100k Population	Average Distance to nearest Firm (miles)
Antrim and Newtownabbey	14	9.5	1.5
Ards and North Down	24	14.6	1.7
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon	48	21.6	2.1
Belfast	156	44.5	0.5
Causeway Coast and Glens	21	14.8	3.7
Derry City and Strabane	31	20.5	2.5
Fermanagh and Omagh	32	27.3	3.8
Lisburn and Castlereagh	12	8.0	2.1
Mid and East Antrim	19	13.6	2.4
Mid Ulster	33	21.7	2.7
Newry, Mourne and Down	41	22.4	3.0
Total	431	22.4	2.1

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Looking at the distribution of registered solicitor firms in 2024/25 across NI by Local Council area shows that the largest proportion (36%) is located in Belfast council area with 156 firms, followed by 11% (48) in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, and 10% (41) in Newry, Mourne and Down. The lowest proportion of solicitor firms is observed in Lisburn and Castlereagh, having 3% (12).

Across Local Council areas, Belfast also displays the highest number of firms per 100,000 population with 44.5, followed by Fermanagh and Omagh with 27.3. The remaining 9 Local Council areas display a rate equal to or lower than the overall NI level (22.4). Lisburn and Castlereagh shows the lowest level with 8.0 firms per 100,000 population, followed by Antrim and Newtownabbey with 9.5.

The NI average minimum distance to the nearest solicitor firm is 2.1 miles. With Belfast having the largest urban population of all council areas it is unsurprising that it displays the lowest average proximity at 0.5 miles. This is followed by Antrim and Newtownabbey at 1.5 miles. The highest average proximity to solicitor firms is seen in Fermanagh and Omagh at 3.8 miles which is reflective of its large rural population. For illustrative purposes, Figure 7.5 presents a map of NI indicating the location of solicitor firms along with the population average proximity to nearest solicitor firm by the latest Census Data Zones, where the darker shading indicates areas with a closer average proximity to solicitor firms.

Figure 7.5: Registered Solicitor Firms and Average Minimum Distance to Nearest Solicitor Firm, 2024/25

7.3 Authorised Expenditure by Provider

Looking at overall authorised expenditure provides a fuller picture of the cost of legal aid to the public purse. However, it is worth noting that although the information in this section presents expenditure by provider type, not all of the remuneration value will be for work carried out by the provider. Authorised expenditure can consist of:

Profit Costs – Professional fees paid to providers for the legal services they provide;

VAT – Value Added Tax added to the cost of the service delivered by the provider; and

Disbursements – Predominantly solicitor remuneration for payment made on behalf of their client for third party services e.g. Medical Expert Report.

7.3.1 Authorised Expenditure by Provider Type

Figure 7.6 (Table A17) presents the authorised expenditure by provider type for each financial year from 2019/20 to 2024/25. Total expenditure rose by 5% (£6.0m) from 2023/24, with increases recorded for solicitor firms, barristers, and third-party payees.

The distribution of expenditure by provider type remains broadly consistent with prior years. Solicitor firms accounted for the majority of authorised payments (57%), followed by barristers (43%), while third-party payees represented a small proportion (0.4%).

Fig 7.6: Authorised Expenditure by Provider Type, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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Figure 7.7 (Table A18) provides further insight into the areas of legal assistance delivered by each provider type in 2024/25. For solicitor firms and barristers, the majority of their authorised expenditure is related to activity in Criminal Courts (47% and 52% respectively) and Representation Higher cases (36% and 42% respectively). With solicitors being the first point of contact in all legal aid cases, 16% of their total expenditure is incurred across Advice and Assistance, Criminal PACE and Representation Lower cases where counsel is unlikely to be required. Exceptional Funding represents 1% of expenditure for solicitor firms and 5% for barristers.

Fig 7.7: Authorised Expenditure Proportional Breakdown by Category of Service, 2024/25

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7.3.2 Authorised Expenditure for Barristers

Between 2019/20 and 2024/25, authorised expenditure on Junior Counsel increased by 54% (£11.0 million), while expenditure on Senior Counsel rose by 170% (£12.9 million), indicating a substantially higher growth rate for Senior Counsel over the period.

Year-on-year comparisons show more moderate increases. In 2024/25, expenditure rose by 2% (£0.6 million) for Junior Counsel and by 1% (£0.2 million) for Senior Counsel compared with 2023/24.

The proportion of barrister expenditure allocated to Senior Counsel has grown steadily, rising from 27% in 2019/20 to 40% in 2024/25. However, this share remained unchanged between 2023/24 and 2024/25 (Figure 7.8; Table A14).

Fig 7.8: Barrister Expenditure by Professional Level, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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7.3.3 Taxed Expenditure 2024/25 by Supplier

In 2024/25, Barristers accounted for a larger proportion of taxed case expenditure, receiving 55% (£18.5 million), while Solicitor firms received 45% (£15.3 million).

Looking at taxed case expenditure by barrister type showed that Senior Counsel accounted for 55% (£10.2million) of barrister expenditure with Junior Counsel receiving £8.3million (45%).

The higher proportion of taxed expenditure allocated to Barristers suggests greater barrister involvement and/or higher associated costs in these cases. This may be contributing to the broader trend of rising barrister-related expenditure observed in recent years (Figure 7.9; Table A19).

Figure 7.9: Breakdown of Expenditure by Supplier, 2024/25

	Authorised Expenditure(£)
Solicitor Firm	15,338,894
Barrister	18,462,608
of which Senior	10,187,328
of which Junior	8,275,281

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7.3.4 Authorised Expenditure by Solicitor Firm Location 2024/25

Looking at authorised expenditure by geographical location of solicitor firms provides additional insight into Legal Aid utilisation across Northern Ireland.

Figure 7.10 (Table A16) illustrates the distribution of 2024/25 expenditure by the Local Council Area of solicitor firms. With the largest proportion of registered solicitor firms, almost half of solicitor expenditure (48%; £32.7m) went to firms in Belfast. This is followed Newry, Mourne and Down (10%; £6.9m), Derry City and Strabane (10%; £6.7m) and Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon (8%; £5.6m). Solicitor firms in Lisburn and Castlereagh had the lowest expenditure with £1.1m (2%).

Figure 7.10: Distribution of authorised expenditure to Solicitor Firms by Local Government District, 2024/25

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Figure 7.11 (Table A16) provides a breakdown of overall solicitor firm expenditure within each local council area by criminal and civil groupings.

In 2024/25, four LGDs, Derry City and Strabane, Mid and East Antrim, Belfast and Newry, Mourne and Down council areas received a higher proportion of criminal expenditure (59%, 55%, 51% and 51% respectively) than civil expenditure. Authorised expenditure to firms in the remaining seven council areas was comprised more of civil payments, exemplified with firms in Antrim and Newtownabbey where two-thirds of authorisations in 2024/25 were made in relation to civil cases.

Figure 7.11: Distribution of authorised expenditure to Solicitor Firms by Local Government District and Criminal/Civil proceedings, 2024/25

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7.3.5 Authorised Expenditure by Provider and Expenditure Type

Expenditure analysis has so far focused on the overall expenditure to providers of legal aid. Tables A17 and A18 disaggregates this to a more granular level, separating out profit costs, VAT and disbursements. This can provide a more accurate view on the amount of money that solicitor firms and barristers are paid to deliver legal aid, as opposed to the distribution of all costs associated with an entire case.

Focusing on profit costs alone (excluding VAT and disbursements), the 2024/25 split in expenditure between solicitor firms and barristers narrows from 57% vs 43% respectively for all expenditure (Section 7.3.1) to 52% vs 47% (Figure 7.12; Table A17).

Figure 7.12: Solicitor Firm and Barrister Profit Costs, 2019/20 to 2024/25

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Breaking down these overall 2024/25 solicitor and barrister profit costs by category of service, as depicted in Figure 7.13, shows that expenditure from Criminal Courts and Representation Higher cases contribute 81% of solicitor profit costs and over 95% of barrister profit costs - both down slightly from 2023/24 (83% and 98% respectively). This breakdown of overall authorised expenditure in 2024/25, by payment type and category of service, is detailed further in Table A18.

Figure 7.13: Solicitor Firm and Barrister Profit Costs, 2024/25

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An alternative pattern emerges when examining profit costs within taxed expenditure. Barristers accounted for the majority of profit costs incurred.

In the Representation Higher category, barrister profit costs represented 61% (£13.6 million) of total profit costs. This trend was even more pronounced in the Criminal – Court of Appeal category, where barristers accounted for nearly four-fifths (79%; £1.9 million) of profit costs.

These figures suggest that cases subject to the taxation process are more likely to involve barrister representation, which may be a contributing factor to the overall increase in barrister-related expenditure (Figure 7.14; Table A19)

Figure 7.14: Solicitor Firm and Barrister Profit Costs - Taxed Expenditure, 2024/25

	Criminal - Court of Appeal (£)	Civil - Representation Higher (£)
Solicitor	516,403	8,739,580
Barrister	1,922,523	13,604,167
Total	2,438,926	22,343,747

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8. LEGAL AID MOVEMENT IN NORTHERN IRELAND, 2024/25

This section builds upon the previous two sections and provides a brief exploration into the observed geographical relationship between the council area in which the application is registered (Section 6) and that of the associated solicitor firm (Section 7) granted the legal aid certificate.

Access to legal aid services is transient by nature in that an assisted person is not restricted to use solicitor firms local to them. Table A20 details the number of applications granted to individuals registered within each district council area alongside any subsequent movement (inward and outward) of applications where an assisted person availed of a solicitor firm outside of their registered council area.

Figure 8.1 illustrates the net movement of applications granted in 2024/25 where the darker shading highlights those council areas that experienced a positive net movement of legal aid work. From the map it can be seen that the Belfast area had the largest net increase with solicitor firms gaining almost 11,000 legal aid cases granted to applicants in other council areas. In contrast, Lisburn and Castlereagh showed the highest net decrease (83%; 4,577) which is consistent with the findings in Section 7 in that a majority of assisted persons in this council area seek legal aid services from Belfast based solicitor firms.

Figure 8.1: Legal Aid Net Movement Across Local Government Districts, 2024/25

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List of Tables

• Table A1: Applications granted, 2019/20 to 2024/25
  
• Table A2: Civil Applications granted, by Primary Nature, 2019/20 to 2024/25
  
• Table A3: Authorised expenditure, 2019/20 to 2024/25
  
• Table A4: Civil authorised expenditure, by Primary Nature, 2019/20 to 2024/25
  
• Table A5: Annual Children Order applications granted, 2019/20 to 2024/25
  
• Table A6: Annual Children Order authorised expenditure, 2019/20 to 2024/25
  
• Table A7: Taxed Expenditure, 2024/25
  
• Table A8: Civil Taxed Expenditure, by Primary Nature, 2024/25
  
• Table A9: Applications granted and associated relative index values, by gender and age band, 2024/25
  
• Table A10: Applications granted, by Local Government District (LGD), 2024/25
  
• Table A11: Applications granted, by area of deprivation (MDM), 2024/25
  
• Table A12: Registered Legal Aid Service Providers by Type, 2019/20 to 2024/25
  
• Table A13: Registered Solicitor Firms by Local Government District (LGD), Firms per 100,000 head of Population and Average Minimum Distance to Nearest Solicitor Firm, 2024/25
  
• Table A14: Authorised Expenditure by Provider Type, 2019/20 to 2024/25
  
• Table A15: Authorised Expenditure by Provider Type and Category of Service, 2024/25
  
• Table A16: Solicitor Firm Authorised Expenditure by provided Legal Aid Service and Local Government District (LGD), 2024/25
  
• Table A17: Authorised Expenditure by Provider and Payment Type, 2019/20 to 2024/25
  
• Table A18: Authorised Expenditure by Provider, Payment Type and Category of Service, 2024/25
  
• Table A19: Taxed Expenditure by Provider, Payment Type and Category of Service, 2024/25
  
• Table A20: Legal Aid Movement across Local Government Districts in Northern Ireland , 2024/25
  

Tables

Table A1

Table A1: Applications granted, 2019/20 to 2024/25

Category of Service		2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25
Criminal Total		48,112	37,517	42,043	43,790	44,260	41,570
Criminal Courts		27,580	20,567	24,649	24,925	25,235	23,865
	Crown Court	2,207	1,810	2,495	2,129	2,308	2,231
	Magistrate's Court	23,912	17,893	20,838	21,252	21,467	20,252
	Extradition	72	58	76	74	66	55
	Criminal Court of Appeal	44	56	52	36	51	46
	County Court Appeal	1,345	750	1,188	1,434	1,343	1,281
Criminal Advice and Assistance (PACE)		20,532	16,950	17,394	18,865	19,025	17,705
Civil Total		26,186	27,258	26,919	20,186	19,621	20,003
Advice and Assistance Civil		13,552	12,954	12,088	5,885	5,055	4,565
	Family	3,819	4,188	3,537	1,394	1,071	972
	of which Matrimonial	518	540	445	146	75	57
	of which Non-Matrimonial	3,301	3,648	3,092	1,248	996	915
	Non-Family	9,733	8,766	8,551	4,491	3,984	3,593
Representation Lower		6,100	7,610	7,588	7,119	7,455	7,719
	Family	5,745	7,208	7,206	6,710	7,051	7,288
	of which Matrimonial	11	15	14	16	29	15
	of which Non-Matrimonial	5,734	7,193	7,192	6,694	7,022	7,273
	Non-Family	355	402	382	409	404	431
Representation Higher		6,508	6,663	7,213	7,151	7,083	7,697
	Family	3,690	3,519	3,892	3,568	3,756	4,114
	of which Matrimonial	989	1,019	1,235	1,145	1,132	1,170
	of which Non-Matrimonial	2,701	2,500	2,657	2,423	2,624	2,944
	Non-Family	2,818	3,144	3,321	3,583	3,327	3,583
Exceptional Funding		26	31	30	31	28	22
	Breach of Human Rights	3	5	14	6	5	4
	Inquest	23	26	16	25	23	18
Grand Total		74,298	64,775	68,962	63,976	63,881	61,573

Table A2

Table A2: Civil Applications granted, by Primary Nature, 2019/20 to 2024/25

Category of Service	Primary Nature	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25
Advice and Assistance	All	13,552	12,954	12,088	5,885	5,055	4,565
	Child Proceedings	1,542	1,713	1,277	624	625	599
	Criminal Matters	2,927	2,156	2,298	396	190	119
	Family	2,277	2,475	2,260	770	446	373
	Government	1,545	1,678	1,327	612	656	487
	Housing & Debt	530	463	355	86	74	37
	Neg / Personal Inj	1,727	1,419	1,141	341	269	178
	Other	2,752	2,766	3,178	2,832	2,540	2,503
	Parole Matters	252	284	252	224	255	269
Representation Lower	All	6,100	7,610	7,588	7,119	7,455	7,719
	Children Order Articles 44 - 58	1,409	1,694	1,642	1,663	1,872	2,110
	Children Order Articles 62 - 69	124	119	167	148	132	115
	Children Order Articles 7 - 41	2,505	2,818	2,904	2,694	2,907	3,041
	Children Order Generic	59	132	155	134	135	151
	Debt / Ejectment	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Family Homes Domestic Violence	1,637	2,430	2,324	2,055	1,976	1,856
	Maintenance	11	15	14	16	29	15
	Parole	175	219	208	212	241	220
	Quasi criminal	39	44	23	29	15	45
	Tribunal	141	139	151	168	147	166
Representation Higher	All	6,508	6,663	7,213	7,151	7,083	7,697
	Appeals	123	131	208	198	181	163
	Asylum & Immigration	135	101	112	112	186	294
	Children Order Articles 44 - 58	1,471	1,359	1,335	1,310	1,425	1,541
	Children Order Articles 62 - 69	8	10	12	10	11	10
	Children Order Articles 7 - 41	775	729	827	612	720	754
	Children Order Generic & Child Proceedings	312	273	306	354	316	407
	Debt / Ejectment	22	14	30	36	34	57
	Family Homes Domestic Violence	126	121	158	114	136	139
	High Court Bail	1,431	1,568	1,388	1,633	1,639	1,554
	Judicial Review	150	128	160	195	159	140
	Land / Property	13	22	41	48	41	61
	Maintenance	4	5	1	5	3	2
	Matrimonial / Civil Partnership	980	1,013	1,227	1,133	1,124	1,156
	Other	417	535	584	549	432	546
	Parole	0	0	2	2	3	3
	Personal Injury	520	634	802	823	654	857
	Quasi criminal	21	20	20	17	19	13
Exceptional Funding	All	26	31	30	31	28	22
	Breach of the Human Rights Act or enforceable EU rights	3	5	14	6	5	4
	Inquest	23	26	16	25	23	18
Grand Total	All	26,186	27,258	26,919	20,186	19,621	20,003

Note: Criminal legal aid is administered by Court Tier and is presented, alongside PACE in Table A1. The information has not been duplicated in Table A2.

Table A3

Table A3: Authorised expenditure, 2019/20 to 2024/25

Category of Service		2019/20(£)	2020/21(£)	2021/22(£)	2022/23(£)	2023/24(£)	2024/25(£)
Criminal Total		43,069,210	35,916,726	48,208,122	50,679,427	52,964,144	60,957,531
Criminal Courts		39,876,344	34,006,808	46,236,261	48,963,663	50,677,748	58,757,397
	Crown Court	19,150,864	17,614,895	20,965,940	25,463,825	25,161,037	31,637,131
	Magistrate's Court	17,522,560	11,790,278	19,931,555	18,460,011	19,465,984	22,199,846
	Extradition	183,217	59,827	558,655	534,174	1,322,674	1,103,607
	Criminal Court of Appeal	2,310,875	4,184,415	4,170,322	3,747,541	3,997,672	2,930,475
	County Court Appeal	708,828	357,394	609,789	758,112	730,382	886,339
Criminal Advice and Assistance (PACE)		3,192,865	1,909,918	1,971,861	1,715,763	2,286,396	2,200,134
Civil Total		39,384,362	39,547,639	47,079,215	51,087,843	61,043,048	59,033,369
Advice and Assistance Civil		1,550,421	1,776,357	2,021,032	1,726,941	1,693,051	2,429,299
	Family	274,933	318,736	286,372	196,728	224,388	280,466
	of which Matrimonial	23,515	23,250	27,728	9,598	3,659	4,814
	of which Non-Matrimonial	251,418	295,486	258,643	187,130	220,729	275,652
	Non-Family	1,275,488	1,457,621	1,734,660	1,530,213	1,468,663	2,148,833
Representation Lower		6,221,521	4,311,065	5,271,996	6,903,764	5,886,778	6,984,092
	Family	5,924,314	3,909,129	4,920,343	6,396,804	5,499,279	6,467,853
	of which Matrimonial	3,113	1,083	1,788	2,369	1,842	4,951
	of which Non-Matrimonial	5,921,201	3,908,046	4,918,554	6,394,435	5,497,437	6,462,902
	Non-Family	297,207	401,936	351,654	506,960	387,498	516,240
Representation Higher		30,145,456	32,006,423	38,746,031	42,369,792	52,536,182	46,150,141
	Family	21,474,186	21,267,531	27,185,598	30,626,710	33,818,947	32,887,987
	of which Matrimonial	3,044,112	3,670,338	3,183,570	2,989,970	4,339,452	3,982,866
	of which Non-Matrimonial	18,430,075	17,597,193	24,002,028	27,636,740	29,479,495	28,905,120
	Non-Family	8,671,270	10,738,892	11,560,433	11,743,083	18,717,235	13,262,154
Exceptional Funding		1,466,964	1,453,794	1,040,157	87,345	927,037	3,469,837
	Breach of Human Rights	562	9,462	27,465	8,622	39,928	72,880
	Inquest	1,466,402	1,444,332	1,012,692	78,723	887,109	3,396,957
Grand Total		82,453,572	75,464,365	95,287,337	101,767,269	114,007,192	119,990,900

Table A4

Table A4: Civil authorised expenditure, by Primary Nature, 2019/20 to 2024/25

Category of Service	Primary Nature	2019/20(£)	2020/21(£)	2021/22(£)	2022/23(£)	2023/24(£)	2024/25(£)
Advice and Assistance	TOTAL	1,550,421	1,776,357	2,021,032	1,726,941	1,693,051	2,429,299
	Child Proceedings	181,617	208,247	173,063	144,691	197,132	253,540
	Criminal Matters	188,789	179,682	224,106	138,623	46,710	41,550
	Family	93,252	110,489	113,308	52,037	27,256	26,927
	Government	204,143	326,748	287,548	208,260	142,685	127,759
	Housing & Debt	31,361	32,849	52,237	30,895	21,553	11,187
	Neg / Personal Inj	256,370	235,725	225,938	143,057	107,192	79,559
	Other	491,391	571,860	847,248	946,404	1,080,590	1,806,067
	Parole Matters	103,498	110,757	97,583	62,976	69,934	82,711
Representation Lower	TOTAL	6,221,521	4,311,065	5,271,996	6,903,764	5,886,778	6,984,092
	Children Order Articles 44 - 58	1,970,359	1,324,043	1,433,448	1,825,986	1,734,223	2,134,692
	Children Order Articles 62 - 69	108,230	60,181	61,374	84,523	70,845	64,763
	Children Order Articles 7 - 41	2,799,085	1,508,059	2,206,987	3,173,429	2,724,633	3,117,464
	Children Order Generic	128,069	46,064	69,265	113,211	100,492	95,140
	Family Homes Domestic Violence	915,458	969,700	1,147,480	1,197,286	867,243	1,050,843
	Maintenance	3,113	1,083	1,788	2,369	1,842	4,951
	Parole	185,744	278,725	260,755	370,073	270,228	370,194
	Quasi criminal	14,663	18,736	12,649	9,560	9,037	11,654
	Tribunal	96,801	104,475	78,250	127,327	108,234	134,391
Representation Higher	TOTAL	30,145,456	32,006,423	38,746,031	42,369,792	52,536,182	46,150,141
	Appeals	1,567,032	1,833,824	2,680,487	1,761,208	5,225,101	2,098,283
	Asylum & Immigration	294,569	146,493	182,646	175,205	234,462	259,080
	Children Order Articles 44 - 58	10,688,740	11,907,520	15,111,190	18,061,364	19,060,986	18,194,689
	Children Order Articles 62 - 69	20,765	8,375	34,587	115,564	38,678	45,407
	Children Order Articles 7 - 41	4,795,892	3,311,444	5,308,724	6,037,547	6,312,332	6,036,090
	Children Order Generic & Child Proceedings	2,413,888	2,069,031	3,084,677	2,876,327	3,478,885	3,662,890
	Debt / Ejectment	352,474	294,968	68,835	42,775	54,280	65,481
	Family Homes Domestic Violence	327,969	224,994	372,277	321,462	357,950	417,796
	High Court Bail	1,134,431	1,237,578	1,189,620	959,133	1,229,905	1,195,742
	Judicial Review	1,686,881	3,519,619	3,113,200	3,019,392	6,109,433	4,982,735
	Land / Property	69,660	26,600	83,395	155,007	112,195	337,572
	Maintenance	11,995	6,364	50,231	5,241	135,388	9,659
	Matrimonial / Civil Partnership	3,026,672	3,662,136	3,129,291	2,974,913	4,178,206	3,961,695
	Other	1,982,630	1,912,222	2,854,758	3,662,144	3,031,935	2,078,822
	Parole	0	0	300	1,015	16,690	11,580
	Personal Injury	1,729,111	1,822,155	1,340,870	2,158,539	2,769,385	2,613,197
	Quasi criminal	42,748	23,099	140,942	42,957	190,370	179,422
Exceptional Funding	TOTAL	1,466,964	1,453,794	1,040,157	87,345	927,037	3,469,837
	Breach of the Human Rights Act or enforceable EU rights	562	9,462	27,465	8,622	39,928	72,880
	Inquest	1,466,402	1,444,332	1,012,692	78,723	887,109	3,396,957
Grand Total	All	39,384,362	39,547,639	47,079,216	51,087,842	61,043,048	59,033,369

Note: Criminal legal aid is administered by Court Tier and is presented, alongside PACE in Table A3. The information has not been duplicated in Table A4.

Table A5

Table A5: Annual Children Order applications granted, 2019/20 to 2024/25

Public/Private	Category of Service	Primary Nature	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25
Public Children Order	Representation Higher	All	1,742	1,598	1,603	1,604	1,682	1,836
	Representation Higher	Children Order Articles 44 - 58	1,471	1,359	1,335	1,310	1,425	1,541
	Representation Higher	Children Order Articles 62 - 69	8	10	12	10	11	10
	Representation Higher	Children Order Generic & Child Proceedings	263	229	256	284	246	285
	Representation Lower	All	1,533	1,814	1,811	1,811	2,011	2,230
	Representation Lower	Children Order Articles 44 - 58	1,409	1,694	1,642	1,663	1,872	2,110
	Representation Lower	Children Order Articles 62 - 69	124	119	167	148	132	115
	Representation Lower	Children Order Generic	0	1	2	0	7	5
	Total	All	3,275	3,412	3,414	3,415	3,693	4,066
Private Children Order	Representation Higher	All	824	773	877	682	790	876
	Representation Higher	Children Order Articles 7 - 41	775	729	827	612	720	754
	Representation Higher	Children Order Generic & Child Proceedings	49	44	50	70	70	122
	Representation Lower	All	2,564	2,949	3,057	2,828	3,035	3,187
	Representation Lower	Children Order Articles 7 - 41	2,505	2,818	2,904	2,694	2,907	3,041
	Representation Lower	Children Order Generic	59	131	153	134	128	146
	Total	All	3,388	3,722	3,934	3,510	3,825	4,063
Grand Total	Total	All	6,663	7,134	7,348	6,925	7,518	8,129

Table A6

Table A6: Annual Children Order authorised expenditure, 2019/20 to 2024/25

Public/Private	Category of Service	Primary Nature	2019/20(£)	2020/21(£)	2021/22(£)	2022/23(£)	2023/24(£)	2024/25(£)
Public Children Order	Representation Higher	All	12,657,354	13,325,910	17,490,149	20,451,946	21,452,040	21,077,905
	Representation Higher	Children Order Articles 44 - 58	10,688,740	11,907,520	15,111,190	18,061,364	19,060,986	18,194,689
	Representation Higher	Children Order Articles 62 - 69	20,765	8,375	34,587	115,564	38,678	45,407
	Representation Higher	Children Order Generic & Child Proceedings	1,947,849	1,410,015	2,344,373	2,275,018	2,352,376	2,837,809
	Representation Lower	All	2,120,189	1,385,551	1,495,058	1,911,481	1,812,248	2,202,769
	Representation Lower	Children Order Articles 44 - 58	1,970,359	1,324,043	1,433,448	1,825,986	1,734,223	2,134,692
	Representation Lower	Children Order Articles 62 - 69	108,230	60,181	61,374	84,523	70,845	64,763
	Representation Lower	Children Order Generic	41,600	1,328	236	972	7,179	3,314
	Total	All	14,777,543	14,711,461	18,985,207	22,363,427	23,264,288	23,280,674
Private Children Order	Representation Higher	All	5,261,931	3,970,460	6,049,029	6,638,856	7,438,841	6,861,170
	Representation Higher	Children Order Articles 7 - 41	4,795,892	3,311,444	5,308,724	6,037,547	6,312,332	6,036,090
	Representation Higher	Children Order Generic & Child Proceedings	466,039	659,016	740,305	601,309	1,126,509	825,080
	Representation Lower	All	2,885,554	1,552,795	2,276,017	3,285,668	2,817,946	3,209,290
	Representation Lower	Children Order Articles 7 - 41	2,799,085	1,508,059	2,206,987	3,173,429	2,724,633	3,117,464
	Representation Lower	Children Order Generic	86,469	44,736	69,030	112,239	93,313	91,826
	Total	All	8,147,485	5,523,255	8,325,046	9,924,524	10,256,787	10,070,460
Grand Total	Total	All	22,925,028	20,234,716	27,310,253	32,287,951	33,521,074	33,351,134

Table A7

Table A7: Taxed Expenditure, 2024/25

Category of Service		Total(£)
Criminal Total	All	2,930,475
Criminal Courts	All	2,930,475
	Criminal Court of Appeal	2,930,475
Civil Total	All	30,871,027
Representation Higher	All	30,871,027
	Family	21,864,433
	of which Matrimonial	3,496,557
	of which Non-Matrimonial	18,367,877
	Non-Family	9,006,593
Grand Total	All	33,801,502

Table A8

Table A8: Civil Taxed Expenditure, by Primary Nature, 2024/25

Category of Service	Primary Nature	Total(£)
Representation Higher	TOTAL	30,871,027
	Appeals	1,803,202
	Asylum & Immigration	0
	Children Order Articles 44 - 58	12,109,994
	Children Order Articles 62 - 69	0
	Children Order Articles 7 - 41	3,202,785
	Children Order Generic & Child Proceedings	2,457,168
	Debt / Ejectment	33,463
	Family Homes Domestic Violence	257,935
	High Court Bail	608,964
	Judicial Review	4,809,364
	Land / Property	292,562
	Maintenance	6,754
	Matrimonial / Civil Partnership	3,479,326
	Other	948,118
	Parole	0
	Personal Injury	700,111
	Quasi criminal	161,282
Grand Total	All	30,871,027

Table A9

Table A9: Applications granted and associated relative index values, by gender and age band, 2024/25

Gender	Age Band	Applications granted - Criminal	Applications granted - Civil	Applications granted - Total	NI Population	Grants per 1,000 population - Criminal	Grants per 1,000 population - Civil	Grants per 1,000 population - Total	Relative Utilisation Index Values - Criminal	Relative Utilisation Index Values - Civil	Relative Utilisation Index Values - Total
Female	Under 18	615	1,139	1,754	212,986	2.9	5.3	8.2	2.4	3.6	3.1
	18 to 24	968	850	1,818	71,506	13.5	11.9	25.4	11.2	8.1	9.5
	25 to 29	1,130	1,400	2,530	57,519	19.6	24.3	44.0	16.3	16.6	16.5
	30 to 39	2,722	3,682	6,404	130,673	20.8	28.2	49.0	17.3	19.2	18.3
	40 to 49	1,357	2,012	3,369	125,667	10.8	16.0	26.8	9	10.9	10
	50 to 59	704	772	1,476	131,858	5.3	5.9	11.2	4.4	4	4.2
	60+	295	359	654	244,688	1.2	1.5	2.7	1	1	1
	ALL	7,865	10,216	18,081	974,897	8.1	10.5	18.5	-	-	-
Male	Under 18	1,534	1,309	2,843	223,636	6.9	5.9	12.7	5.7	4	4.8
	18 to 24	5,198	974	6,172	77,742	66.9	12.5	79.4	55.5	8.5	29.7
	25 to 29	5,580	1,402	6,982	58,616	95.2	23.9	119.1	79	16.3	44.6
	30 to 39	11,599	3,182	14,781	123,345	94.0	25.8	119.8	78	17.6	44.8
	40 to 49	5,695	1,738	7,433	118,795	47.9	14.6	62.6	39.8	10	23.4
	50 to 59	2,578	789	3,367	126,609	20.4	6.2	26.6	16.9	4.2	9.9
	60+	1,336	369	1,705	216,742	6.2	1.7	7.9	5.1	1.2	2.9
	ALL	33,633	9,763	43,396	945,485	35.6	10.3	45.9	-	-	-

Note:

• NI Population figures are sourced from NISRA 2023 mid-year population estimates for NI.
  
• Index Values have been calculated using the volumes of applications granted to each gender-age group, standardised by the equivalent NI mid-year population estimates.
  
• Analysis excludes 285 granted applications where the gender and/or age of the assisted person is unknown. In cases where the gender is known (but not the age) they have been added back into the ‘ALL’ category for Male or Female respectively.

Table A10

Table A10: Applications granted, by Local Government District (LGD), 2024/25

Local Government District (LGD)	Applications granted - Criminal	Applications granted - Civil	Applications granted - Total	NI Population	Applications granted per 1,000 population - Criminal	Applications granted per 1,000 population - Civil	Applications granted per 1,000 population - Total
Antrim and Newtownabbey	2,101	1,088	3,189	147,298	14.3	7.4	21.6
Ards and North Down	2,151	1,129	3,280	164,913	13.0	6.8	19.9
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon	3,727	1,701	5,428	221,754	16.8	7.7	24.5
Belfast	11,089	5,403	16,492	350,533	31.6	15.4	47.0
Causeway Coast and Glens	1,928	1,189	3,117	141,733	13.6	8.4	22.0
Derry City and Strabane	3,966	1,695	5,661	150,859	26.3	11.2	37.5
Fermanagh and Omagh	1,479	547	2,026	117,195	12.6	4.7	17.3
Lisburn and Castlereagh	2,497	3,036	5,533	150,822	16.6	20.1	36.7
Mid and East Antrim	2,266	924	3,190	139,840	16.2	6.6	22.8
Mid Ulster	1,869	769	2,638	152,006	12.3	5.1	17.4
Newry, Mourne and Down	2,970	1,379	4,349	183,429	16.2	7.5	23.7
Northern Ireland (Total)	41,570	20,003	61,573	1,920,382	21.6	10.4	32.1

Note:

• NI Population figures are sourced from NISRA 2023 mid-year population estimates for NI.
  
• Analysis excludes 6,670 granted applications where the LGD of the assisted person is unknown, though these are included in the NI Total.
  
• LGD is assigned on the registered postcode of each granted application.

Table A11

Table A11: Applications granted, by area of deprivation (MDM), 2024/25

MDM Quintile	Applications granted - Criminal	Applications granted - Civil	Applications granted - Total
Quintile 1 (most deprived)	15,004	6,421	21,425
Quintile 2	7,894	3,513	11,407
Quintile 3	5,393	2,908	8,301
Quintile 4	5,035	4,237	9,272
Quintile 5 (least deprived)	2,717	1,781	4,498
Northern Ireland (Total)	41,570	20,003	61,573

Note:

• Quintiles of deprivation are sourced from NISRA’s Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017 (NIMDM2017).
  
• Analysis excludes 6,670 granted applications where the MDM Quintile associated with the application is unknown, though these are included in the NI Total.
  
• MDM Quintile is assigned on the registered postcode of each granted application.

Table A12

Table A12: Registered Legal Aid Service Providers by Type, 2019/20 to 2024/25

Provider	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25
Solicitor Firms	434	447	461	450	444	431
Solicitor Firms receiving payment	429	394	404	405	376	374
Barristers	601	647	686	669	639	639
of which Junior (Barrister at Law)	504	540	568	552	509	509
of which Senior (Kings Counsel)	97	107	118	117	130	130
Barristers receiving payment	503	489	495	491	486	484
of which Junior (Barrister at Law)	435	407	415	412	391	391
of which Senior (Kings Counsel)	68	82	80	79	95	93
Third Party Payees	4	4	4	7	6	5
Third Party Payees receiving payment	3	4	4	6	4	3

Table A13

Table A13: Registered Solicitor Firms by Local Government District (LGD), Firms per 100,000 head of Population and Average Minimum Distance to Nearest Solicitor Firm, 2024/25

Local Government District	Solicitor Firms	NI Population	Firms per 100k Population	Average Distance to nearest Firm
Antrim and Newtownabbey	14	147,298	9.5	1.5
Ards and North Down	24	164,913	14.6	1.7
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon	48	221,754	21.6	2.1
Belfast	156	350,533	44.5	0.5
Causeway Coast and Glens	21	141,733	14.8	3.7
Derry City and Strabane	31	150,859	20.5	2.5
Fermanagh and Omagh	32	117,195	27.3	3.8
Lisburn and Castlereagh	12	150,822	8.0	2.1
Mid and East Antrim	19	139,840	13.6	2.4
Mid Ulster	33	152,006	21.7	2.7
Newry, Mourne and Down	41	183,429	22.4	3.0
Total	431	1,920,382	22.4	2.1

Note:

• NI Population figures are sourced from NISRA 2023 mid-year population estimates for NI.
  
• Average distance is calculated on a straight line basis between the postcode centroids of both the registered applicant and solicitor firm addresses. Further information on this calculation is provided in the guidance notes.
  
• LGD is assigned on the registered postcode of each Solicitor Firm.

Table A14

Table A14: Authorised Expenditure by Provider Type, 2019/20 to 2024/25

Provider Type	2019/20(£)	2020/21(£)	2021/22(£)	2022/23(£)	2023/24(£)	2024/25(£)
Solicitor Firm	54,500,110	44,519,869	55,801,329	59,061,226	62,884,201	67,952,773
Barrister	27,681,686	30,747,086	39,155,613	42,303,440	50,735,190	51,534,139
of which Senior	7,581,230	11,572,262	12,908,381	14,658,156	20,297,624	20,516,373
of which Junior	20,100,456	19,174,825	26,247,232	27,645,284	30,437,566	31,017,767
Third Party Payee	271,776	197,410	330,394	402,603	387,801	503,988
Total	82,453,572	75,464,365	95,287,337	101,767,269	114,007,192	119,990,900

Table A15

Table A15: Authorised Expenditure by Provider Type and Category of Service, 2024/25

Category Of Service	Solicitor Firm(£)	Barrister(£)	Junior (Barrister at Law)(£)	Senior (Kings Counsel)(£)	Third Party Payee(£)
Criminal Total	34,027,526	26,877,555	17,450,660	9,426,896	52,449
Criminal Courts	31,827,494	26,877,555	17,450,660	9,426,896	52,348
Criminal Advice and Assistance (PACE)	2,200,032	0	0	0	101
Civil Total	33,925,247	24,656,584	13,567,107	11,089,477	451,539
Advice and Assistance Civil	2,129,403	0	0	0	299,897
Representation Lower	6,664,363	290,811	266,511	24,300	28,918
Representation Higher	24,195,483	21,831,934	12,376,341	9,455,593	122,724
Exceptional Funding	935,998	2,533,839	924,255	1,609,584	0
Total	67,952,773	51,534,139	31,017,767	20,516,373	503,988

Table A16

Table A16: Solicitor Firm Authorised Expenditure by provided Legal Aid Service and Local Government District (LGD), 2024/25

Local Government District	Civil(£)	Criminal(£)	Total(£)
Antrim and Newtownabbey	1,304,208	665,208	1,969,416
Ards and North Down	2,372,354	1,625,929	3,998,282
Armagh City Banbridge and Craigavon	2,940,521	2,680,037	5,620,557
Belfast	15,889,854	16,851,618	32,741,472
Causeway Coast and Glens	865,694	519,027	1,384,721
Derry City and Strabane	2,742,118	3,969,173	6,711,291
Fermanagh and Omagh	1,193,571	1,006,228	2,199,799
Lisburn and Castlereagh	671,595	424,963	1,096,558
Mid and East Antrim	1,056,308	1,281,990	2,338,298
Mid Ulster	1,531,298	1,446,802	2,978,100
Newry Mourne and Down	3,357,726	3,556,553	6,914,279
Total	33,925,247	34,027,527	67,952,773

Note: LGD is assigned on the registered postcode of each Solicitor Firm.

Table A17

Table A17: Authorised Expenditure by Provider and Payment Type, 2019/20 to 2024/25

Provider Type	Payment Type	2019/20(£)	2020/21(£)	2021/22(£)	2022/23(£)	2023/24(£)	2024/25(£)
Solicitor	Profit Cost	39,327,900	31,665,727	39,802,298	41,492,567	43,553,024	47,847,783
	VAT	7,750,280	6,242,952	7,878,604	8,258,583	8,650,513	9,493,921
	Disbursement	7,421,930	6,611,189	8,120,428	9,310,076	10,680,664	10,611,069
	Total	54,500,110	44,519,869	55,801,329	59,061,226	62,884,201	67,952,773
Barrister	Profit Cost	23,735,629	26,078,903	33,248,512	36,038,555	42,963,207	43,566,414
	VAT	3,896,794	4,643,031	5,733,748	6,241,134	7,773,278	7,958,299
	Disbursement	49,263	25,153	173,353	23,750	-1,295	9,426
	Total	27,681,686	30,747,086	39,155,613	42,303,440	50,735,190	51,534,139
Third Party Payee	Profit Cost	167,150	147,633	268,698	331,883	323,168	419,296
	VAT	33,045	29,527	53,721	66,230	64,632	83,885
	Disbursement	71,581	20,250	7,976	4,490	0	807
	Total	271,776	197,410	330,394	402,603	387,801	503,988
All	Profit Cost	63,230,678	57,892,263	73,319,508	77,863,006	86,839,400	91,833,494
	VAT	11,680,119	10,915,510	13,666,073	14,565,947	16,488,423	17,536,105
	Disbursement	7,542,775	6,656,592	8,301,756	9,338,317	10,679,369	10,621,301
	Total	82,453,572	75,464,365	95,287,337	101,767,269	114,007,192	119,990,900

Table A18

Table A18: Authorised Expenditure by Provider, Payment Type and Category of Service, 2024/25

Provider Type	Payment Type	Criminal - Criminal courts(£)	Criminal - PACE(£)	Criminal - Total(£)	Civil - Advice and Assisstance(£)	Civil - Representation Lower(£)	Civil - Representation Higher(£)	Civil - Exceptional Funding(£)	Civil - Civil - Total(£)	Grand Total(£)
Solicitor	Profit Cost	24,133,307	1,782,872	25,916,179	1,731,921	4,948,914	14,542,473	708,296	21,931,604	47,847,783
	VAT	4,818,228	353,668	5,171,896	340,278	990,662	2,850,106	140,979	4,322,026	9,493,921
	Disbursement	2,875,959	63,493	2,939,452	57,203	724,786	6,802,905	86,723	7,671,617	10,611,069
	Total	31,827,494	2,200,032	34,027,527	2,129,403	6,664,363	24,195,483	935,998	33,925,247	67,952,773
Barrister	Profit Cost	22,682,424	0	22,682,424	0	249,990	18,515,786	2,118,214	20,883,990	43,566,414
	VAT	4,192,226	0	4,192,226	0	40,767	3,309,682	415,625	3,766,074	7,958,299
	Disbursement	2,905	0	2,905	0	54	6,466	0	6,520	9,426
	Total	26,877,555	0	26,877,555	0	290,811	21,831,934	2,533,839	24,656,584	51,534,139
Third Party Payee	Profit Cost	43,587	84	43,671	249,914	24,042	101,670	0	375,626	419,296
	VAT	8,717	17	8,734	49,983	4,808	20,359	0	75,150	83,885
	Disbursement	44	0	44	0	68	695	0	763	807
	Total	52,348	101	52,449	299,897	28,918	122,724	0	451,539	503,988
All	Profit Cost	46,859,318	1,782,956	48,642,274	1,981,835	5,222,946	33,159,929	2,826,510	43,191,220	91,833,494
	VAT	9,019,171	353,685	9,372,855	390,261	1,036,238	6,180,146	556,604	8,163,250	17,536,105
	Disbursement	2,878,909	63,493	2,942,401	57,203	724,908	6,810,066	86,723	7,678,900	10,621,301
	Total	58,757,397	2,200,134	60,957,531	2,429,299	6,984,092	46,150,141	3,469,837	59,033,369	119,990,900

Table A19

Table A19: Taxed Expenditure by Provider, Payment Type and Category of Service, 2024/25

Provider Type	Payment Type	Criminal - Court of Appeal(£)	Civil - Representation Higher(£)	Total(£)
Solicitor	Profit Cost	516,403	8,739,580	9,255,983
	VAT	103,281	1,695,100	1,798,381
	Disbursement	11,764	4,272,766	4,284,530
	Total	631,447	14,707,447	15,338,894
Barrister	Profit Cost	1,922,523	13,604,167	15,526,690
of which Senior	Profit Cost	1,298,578	7,199,004	8,497,582
of which Junior	Profit Cost	623,945	6,405,163	7,029,108
Barrister	VAT	376,505	2,555,644	2,932,149
of which Senior	VAT	251,716	1,436,951	1,688,667
of which Junior	VAT	124,789	1,118,693	1,243,482
Barrister	Disbursement	0	3,769	3,769
of which Senior	Disbursement	0	1,079	1,079
of which Junior	Disbursement	0	2,691	2,691
Barrister	Total	2,299,028	16,163,580	18,462,608
of which Senior	Total	1,550,294	8,637,034	10,187,328
of which Junior	Total	748,734	7,526,547	8,275,281
All	Profit Cost	2,438,926	22,343,747	24,782,673
	VAT	479,785	4,250,744	4,730,529
	Disbursement	11,764	4,276,536	4,288,300
	Total	2,930,475	30,871,027	33,801,502

Table A20

Table A20: Legal Aid Movement across Local Government Districts in Northern Ireland, 2024/25

Local Government District (LGD)	Applications Granted to Assisted Persons	Applications Out	Applications In	Net Movement of Applications - Number	Net Movement of Applications - Percentage	Cases Granted to Solicitor Firms
Antrim and Newtownabbey	3,189	2,599	975	-1,624	-51%	1,565
Ards and North Down	3,280	1,875	1,814	-61	-2%	3,219
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon	5,428	1,759	1,506	-253	-5%	5,175
Belfast	16,492	2,937	10,918	7,981	48%	24,473
Causeway Coast and Glens	3,117	2,341	234	-2,107	-68%	1,010
Derry City and Strabane	5,661	804	2,237	1,433	25%	7,094
Fermanagh and Omagh	2,026	867	346	-521	-26%	1,505
Lisburn and Castlereagh	5,533	4,923	346	-4,577	-83%	956
Mid and East Antrim	3,190	2,049	1,011	-1,038	-33%	2,152
Mid Ulster	2,638	1,042	530	-512	-19%	2,126
Newry, Mourne and Down	4,349	1,040	2,319	1,279	29%	5,628

Note:

• Analysis excludes 6,670 granted applications where the LGD of the assisted person is unknown.
  
• LGD is assigned on the registered postcode of each granted application and of the Solicitor Firm.

PUBLICATION NOTES

Copyright and Licencing

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Official Statistics

Official Statistics are statistics produced by Crown bodies and other organisations listed within an Official Statistics Order, on behalf of the UK government or devolved administrations. They provide a factual basis for assessment and decisions on economic, social and environmental issues at all levels of society. This broad definition of official statistics means that the scope of official statistics can be adapted over time to suit changing circumstances.

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).

OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

User Engagement

We welcome comment and feedback on these statistics. If you would like to forward your views or be added to our mailing list to be informed about future publications, please use the contact details provided at the top of this publication.

TECHNICAL NOTES

Please note that while the complete User Guide associated with Information & Analysis Unit’s Official Statistics is available at LSANI Annual Statistics User Guide, the most relevant technical information related specifically to this bulletin are as follows:

The Legal Services Agency Northern Ireland

The Legal Services Agency Northern Ireland supports the justice system and enables access to justice by administering publicly funded legal services impartially, effectively and efficiently within the established governing legislative and policy framework.

The Agency decides on applications for civil legal services against the statutory financial and legal tests to determine whether an individual should receive support. The Judiciary is responsible for granting criminal legal aid for defendants in criminal cases. The Agency also makes payments to the legal profession for services provided under both the criminal legal aid and civil legal aid services schemes while ensuring value for money.

Definitions

There are different metrics by which to measure trends in legal services over time, both in terms of caseload and cost. These will be discussed in the subsequent sections.

Caseload

Caseload can be quantified in terms of the number of applications received by the Agency in a given time period, or equally by the number of applications granted, or cases that have progressed to conclusion and have been subsequently closed. The caseload statistics contained in this report focus on grants of legal services as this best represents current and future demands on both the Agency itself and the public legal aid fund.

While the Agency is responsible for adjudicating on applications for civil services, the grant of criminal legal aid is a judicial function. This is further detailed in Section 3.1.

It is worth noting that civil applications that are initially rejected and fall outside the scope of this definition are open to a review process, both internally and via an independent appeals panel. Therefore, a small number of these cases may subsequently be granted on appeal, potentially within a different reporting year, following the provision of additional and more complete information.

Expenditure (Authorised Payments)

There are several ways to consider legal aid expenditure, each with subtle differences suited to particular purposes.

Authorised payment expenditure is the measure used to represent expenditure figures throughout these statistics. It represents the total value of bills assessed and approved for payment to legal aid providers in accordance with remuneration legislation for blocks of work that have been completed within a particular reporting timeframe. While this measure is broadly comparable to volumes of work to which it relates and allows for expenditure to be broken down into more granular areas of legal aid, there can be multiple authorisations relating to a single legal aid case. For example, there can be more than one bill from a single registered supplier (e.g. an Interim bill, a Report on Case, and/or an Additional Payment) as well as bills from more than one provider attached to the case (e.g. a Solicitor, Counsel and Third Party) within the respective timeframe.

An alternative measure is closed case expenditure. This approach takes account of all bills from all suppliers, including any subsequent recoupments or adjustments, across multiple years spanning the duration of the case. This measure is appropriate when considering the real average cost of a legal aid case and is fundamental to financial provisions modelling within the Agency.

A third measure, RDEL (Resource Departmental Expenditure Limits) expenditure is how annual legal aid spend is formally reported through Account NI, the Agency’s financial reporting system. This measure factors in a very small degree of legal aid expenditure that isn’t captured via the authorised payment expenditure measure. This will account for any nominal variance between expenditure figures quoted in these statistics and the applicable legal aid expenditure figures quoted in the annual accounts.

Suppliers of legal aid services

Since 2019, in order to be granted authority to provide, and be remunerated for, legal aid services in Northern Ireland, suppliers have been required to register (and be approved) on the legal aid case management system (LAMS). There are three main types of supplier:

• Solicitor Firms are made up of solicitors who will be the first point of contact for an eligible person seeking access to justice. Certificates are issued to a Firm who may, given the nature and complexity of the case, employ counsel who will be attached to the case.

• Barristers may also be referred to as counsel and comprise a mix of Junior (BL) and Senior (KC) counsel.

• Third party payees typically provide an interpretation/translation service. Several third parties are registered with LSANI to provide various forms of such services including face-to-face, sign language and written translation services. While each registered supplier is capable of submitting their own requests, including the submission of bills, on occasion a single bill may result in payment to a solicitor firm and counsel – for example, upon submission of a taxed bill of costs drafted by the Taxing Master.

Interpreting data

These figures are built from data snapshots extracted from a live IT system (LAMS) at fixed points in time, ensuring consistency of reporting across years. While care is taken when entering, processing and analysing the data, they are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale administrative recording system.

Furthermore, these databases are dynamic and any updates made subsequent to the taking of an extract, will not be reflected in figures produced from the extract. For this reason, real-time figures may vary slightly to those presented with this publication.

Exercise caution when interpreting these figures as counting rules and data collection methods may have changed over time. Please refer to the linked data sources for further information.

Numbers and Percentages

Within the report, percentages and expenditure figures have rounded either to the nearest whole number or to one decimal place. For this reason it may appear that totals do not appear to tally.

Percentages calculated on base numbers of under 100 should be treated with caution to avoid drawing unwarranted conclusions.