Special and wasted preparation
The Criminal Cases Unit is responsible for the assessing all special preparation claims under the litigator graduated fee scheme and advocates graduated fee scheme.
What are special preparation claims?
Special preparation claims are for work which falls outside the graduated fee schemes. In the case of litigators this would mean pages of prosecution evidence (PPE) served in excess of the 10,000 page graduated fee cap and electronic evidence not included in the PPE. For advocates the precise criteria depend on the date of the Representation Order, but covers pages in excess of the appropriate graduated fee cap and if the case has novel or in some circumstances very unusual factual or legal issues.
The following Regulations apply depending on the date of the Representation Order
• Representation Order before the 31st March 2013 - 2007 Criminal Defence Service Funding Order
• Representation Order between the 1st April 2013 and 31st March 2018 - 2013 Criminal Legal Aid Remuneration Regulations
• Representation Order between the 1st April 2018 and 30th December 2018 - 2018 Criminal Legal Aid Remuneration Amendment Regulations
• Representation Order from the 31st December 2018 - 2018 Criminal Legal Aid Remuneration Amendment No.2 Regulations
What are wasted preparation claims?
The Criminal Cases Unit (CCU) is responsible for the assessing all wasted preparation claims under the advocates graduated fee scheme.
Advocates can claim wasted preparation if they are prevented from representing a client at trial and the circumstances meet the criteria set out in Regulations.
The 2007 Criminal Defence Service Funding Order are the Regulations that cover wasted preparation claims with a representation up to the 31st March 2013.
The 2013 Criminal Legal Aid Remuneration Regulations cover wasted preparation claims post 1 April 2013.
How do I claim special/wasted preparation?
All new claims for special/wasted preparation should be submitted alongside the graduated fee scheme claim to the Litigator or Advocates Graduated Fee Team in Nottingham. Litigators should use the LF1 SP form while advocates should use the AF1 SP form.
For details of how to claim a graduated fee scheme or contact the graduated fee teams.
Unused material
On cases where the Representation Order is dated on or after the 17 September 2020 time can be claimed for considering the unused material.
The CCU process fees for the consideration of unused material where the claims are for 30 hours or more. Claims of less than 30 hours will be considered by the Graduated Fee Team.
Paragraph 17A, Schedule 1 of the Remuneration Regulations sets out the circumstances where the consideration of unused material may be claimed.
Consideration of unused material of 3 hours or less should be claimed as a fixed fee on CCD. If the time for considering unused material is in excess of 3 hours a claim must be made using the unused claim form.
What are the processing targets?
New claims will be assessed so that if a special preparation fee is to be paid than it will be received by the provider within 20 working days following the receipt by CCU of the initial special preparation claim.
Claims where further information is being submitted, and requests for redetermination or written reasons will be assessed in working 20 days.
To contact the Criminal Cases Unit regarding special preparation
Email: specialpreparation@justice.gov.uk
For details of how to claim a graduated fee scheme or contact the graduated fee teams.
Last updated 5 January 2021 + show all updates
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Updated information on claiming for unused material.
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First published.