Legal Aid Newsletter | July 2026

We will continue to put any issues you’d like us to raise to the LAA. If you have any feedback from this newsletter, or would like our team to look into any problems you face, please email us.

Child Focused Courts – delegated functions

The LAA is implementing an interim measure to address the operational challenges for legal aid providers caused by accelerated timelines under the Child Focused Model pilot.

From 15 July 2026, family providers will be able to delegate the grant of legal representation exclusively for Child Focused Model cases (previously known as Private Law Pathfinder). This applies where a decision to grant legal aid has already been made up to Family Help (Higher).

What you need to do

When recording the CCMS amendment for these cases, you must:

• include a reference to the case being a Child Focused Model case in the statement of case
• record the use of delegated functions

A revised version of the table of Delegated Authorities- Merits Regulations (15 July 2026) has been updated to support this interim measure. There is no fixed end date for this interim measure. A longer-term solution will be developed in due course.

See Practice Direction 36Z

Complex means cases

You can seek assistance from a dedicated team of caseworkers before granting emergency representation under delegated functions. Queries should be sent to [email protected].

The LAA aims to respond to these emails within 48 hours. They answered 261 provider queries on this service between March and May 2026. Main queries were:

• Benefits & passporting (especially UC nil, housing element, disregards)
• Evidence & documents (including translations)
• Eligibility and capital assessments
• Impact of changes in circumstances

Tips for passported means applications

There is a new short recording on the Legal Aid Learning website to assist civil providers.

This video explores the top two tips for providers submitting passported applications/evidence to the Legal Aid Agency, including why a £0 payment of Universal Credit may mean your client isn’t passported.

Direct LAA contact for clients in business means cases

In March 2025, a service was rolled out to all providers whereby the LAA would request further information direct from the client in business means cases, if the provider requested it.

This service had not been used at the time of the cyber-attack. It is still available — details can be found on the Legal Aid Learning website. The LAA plans to re-advertise the service when contributions are reinstated. However, it remains available.

Gateway evidence checker

If you are concerned about whether a piece of evidence complies with the regulations, the LAA offers an email service so you can check before delegated functions are used. The LAA aims to respond within 48 hours. They answered 1,236 emails between March and May 2026.

View feedback

C2 cases

LAA caseworkers have identified an increase in C2 applications being claimed under the Family Advocacy Scheme (FAS) as well as an increase in queries from providers asking if these can be considered paper hearings.

The LAA advises that a court order made following a C2 application is not considered a paper hearing. These are administrative orders made through the court’s administrative process. It is not an advocacy activity so cannot be claimed under FAS.

Unlike a paper hearing, the matter is not considered on paper in lieu of a hearing. Any work in relation to the submission of a C2 application or review of the resultant order is remuneration within the representation fee or at hourly rates if the matter escapes or is exempt.

If a FAS fee is claimed for this work, the claim will be rejected and the provider asked to remove it from their claim.

Read more

LALYs winners announced

Resolution was proud to sponsor the Family Legal Aid category at the 2026 Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards, celebrating the outstanding achievements of legal aid practitioners across the profession.

Congratulations to Resolution member Oliver Conway, of Oliver Fisher Solicitors, who was named the Family Legal Aid winner. Oliver was recognised for his work to improve the legal profession’s understanding of Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities, helping to address the discrimination they often face within child protection services.

View winners

Submit a Bulk Claim (SaBC) queries – a reminder on who to contact

The LAA has informed us that the [email protected] email inbox is now CLOSED. Emails received by this inbox will not be read and you should direct your queries to the appropriate team:

• Technical queries on SaBC should be directed to Online Support, who can raise tickets should further investigation be required by Digital: [email protected]
• Any queries regarding payments received following a submission should be directed to [email protected].
• Queries concerning claim amendments, including voids, should be sent to [email protected].
• Any other queries, such as which codes may be applicable in a particular matter, may be sent to your Contract Manager.

The LAA asks you to refer to the published guidance in the first instance as this may well resolve your query – this is the same guidance available to the LAA internally.

SaBC data validation exercise – Fee Codes and nil claims

The Submit a Bulk Claim (SaBC) service introduced new claim codes (Fee Codes) and guidance to support this.

The LAA expected that there would be potential for errors, particularly early in its use. They have undertaken a review of the initial data submitted via SaBC. During this process, they have identified some errors related to the Fee Codes used and the amounts recorded for profit costs by a minority of providers.

In this initial instance, the LAA will not be taking contract action against providers, as they recognise that everyone is still adapting to the new system. They emphasise that their aim is to support providers through this transition by offering further guidance and, where possible, seeking to add extra validation in the system.

View examples shared by the LAA

SaBC June changes

There have been multiple changes to the Submit a Bulk Claim (SaBC) service.

These include:

• Changes to the “Delete user” function in Sign in to Legal Aid Services
• Email Notifications for Monthly Claim Submissions on Submit a Bulk Claim
• VHCC references changed to HCF
• Change to Date Fields in CCMS Means and Merits Interviews
• Updates to Income and Capital Disregards Screens

View changes in detail

Statutory Charge Manual updated

The LAA has updated the Statutory Charge Manual. They have clarified the position in sections 3.9, 4.4 and 7.6 on the effect of an order for transfer of equity in the home.

Guidance on the use of expert witnesses

The LAA has removed references to expert witnesses in criminal defence from the previous guidance and created separate guidance for family and crime cases, which can be found here.

LAA Help Us Say Yes Seminars – make your feedback count!

The LAA is reviewing the #HelpUsSayYes programme to understand what is working well and where they can make improvements. They would be grateful if you could take a few minutes to complete this short feedback survey.

Complete the survey

Civil Application fixer queries 5 February 2026 – 11 June 2026

A new online form was launched in February for providers to submit Application and Contingency Fixer queries. Ninety-five different providers have used the service during the February–June period.

They raised 150 queries where they thought the LAA had made an error: 111 merits, 25 means, eight exceptional and complex cases, and six prior authority.

Nature of Query:

• 67 Incorrect cost/scope/proceeding
• 38 Other
• 23 Incorrect refusal
• Seven failure to consider information

Application Fixer, Civil Claim Fix and High-Cost Family Fixer guidance has been added to the LAA Training & Support website.

View guidance

LAA Contract Manager Activity

The LAA has carried out the following contract management activities. There was reduced activity during the cyber outage period:

Notices, sanctions and terminations issued in 2025/26 are below.

Regional Contract Managers

Most organisations have a good relationship with their LAA Contract Manager; but if you ever need to escalate an issue, you can email the regional Contract Manager.