Justice Minister Sarah Sackman announced on 1 December a £92 million annual boost for criminal legal-aid solicitors, with £20 million ring-fenced for housing and immigration cases. It is the first significant civil-legal-aid uplift since 1996 and is framed as part of the government’s “Plan for Change” to reduce the record asylum-decision backlog and end the use of hotels for claimants.
The move follows criticism from the Law Society that inadequate remuneration was driving specialist immigration advisers out of the sector, leaving asylum seekers unrepresented and clogging tribunals. Under the package, fixed fees for asylum and human-rights appeals will rise by 15 per cent, and firms taking on complex trafficking cases will qualify for an additional hardship premium.
![Government Injects £20 Million into Immigration Legal Aid to Tackle Asylum Backlog]()
For employers, swifter resolution of asylum claims could ease pressure on local housing markets that have driven up corporate accommodation costs near large dispersal centres. Companies seconding staff to the UK should also benefit indirectly if tribunal backlogs shrink, freeing judicial capacity to hear work-visa appeals more quickly.
However, migration-sceptic MPs argue that higher legal-aid rates will incentivise “spurious” appeals. The Ministry of Justice counters that faster, better-resourced decisions will deter frivolous claims by reducing overall waiting times and improving removal enforcement.
The funding will take effect on 22 December 2025. Mobility managers should update risk registers for transferees whose projects intersect with asylum-accommodation hotspots, as councils could reallocate hotel stock sooner than expected.
The move follows criticism from the Law Society that inadequate remuneration was driving specialist immigration advisers out of the sector, leaving asylum seekers unrepresented and clogging tribunals. Under the package, fixed fees for asylum and human-rights appeals will rise by 15 per cent, and firms taking on complex trafficking cases will qualify for an additional hardship premium.
For employers, swifter resolution of asylum claims could ease pressure on local housing markets that have driven up corporate accommodation costs near large dispersal centres. Companies seconding staff to the UK should also benefit indirectly if tribunal backlogs shrink, freeing judicial capacity to hear work-visa appeals more quickly.
However, migration-sceptic MPs argue that higher legal-aid rates will incentivise “spurious” appeals. The Ministry of Justice counters that faster, better-resourced decisions will deter frivolous claims by reducing overall waiting times and improving removal enforcement.
The funding will take effect on 22 December 2025. Mobility managers should update risk registers for transferees whose projects intersect with asylum-accommodation hotspots, as councils could reallocate hotel stock sooner than expected.
