The government has pledged to increase spending on fees by £23m to try to resolve its long-running dispute with the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) over the advocates’ graduated fee scheme (AGFS).

Justice secretary, David Gauke, made the announcement at the Annual Bar Conference on 24 November 2018. He also agreed to bring forward a one per cent increase in all fees alongside the scheme. The CBA, which had been leading the opposition to the new AGFS that the government had introduced in April, welcomed the announcement.

In August, CBA members had narrowly voted to accept a deal to increase the fees by £15m, but were angered when, after examining the detail of the offer, they learned that it was worth much less. The £23m that has been announced adds a £8m to the August figure.