Amendments are being made to Part 1, Schedule 1 of the Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013 (“the Regulations”) to introduce an escape fee threshold for the remuneration of controlled work in the welfare benefits category of law.   

Currently, welfare benefits providers under the 2024 Standard Civil Contract are paid a standard fixed fee of £208 (with no escape fee threshold) per case.  

Table 1, Part 1, Schedule 1 of the Regulations is being amended to include the existing welfare benefits fee of £208 and introduce an escape fee threshold of three times the standard fixed fee (i.e. £624) for controlled work matters being claimed in this category of law. Table 7 (Welfare Benefits Standard fixed fee), Part 1, Schedule 1 of the Regulations will be removed. 

These amendments to the remuneration of welfare benefits work are set out in the following Statutory Instrument (SI): The Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) Regulations 2025. The SI will come into force on Thursday 1 May 2025 and these changes will not apply to cases where the application for civil legal service is made before this date.  

Changes have been made to the Controlled Work and Administration (CWA) reporting system to support the introduction of the escape fee threshold in the welfare benefits category of law and will be in place for a Thursday 1 May 2025 go-live date.

Further Information

The Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) Regulations 2025

Information on claiming escape cases can be found here: Escape cases electronic handbook – GOV.UK