Long applauds work being done by Legal Services Agency
Date published:
The Legal Services Agency paid £120m to lawyers for legal aid work in the last financial year, according to provisional figures.
Justice Minister Naomi Long said the figure demonstrates the ongoing commitment to deliver high-quality access to justice in Northern Ireland.
She was commenting during a visit to the Legal Services Agency (LSA) headquarters in Belfast to mark its 10th anniversary.
“I value the role legal aid plays in supporting the most vulnerable in our society at some of the most difficult times in their lives,” said Minister Long.
“People often encounter the justice system at times of crisis and it is a critical feature in any society that everyone can access effective and experienced legal representation. With this in mind, my Department continues to make significant investment to ensure those most in need are able to access legal representation through legal aid.”
The LSA paid out £116.8m on legal aid cases in 2024/25. An additional £3.2m was paid in respect of legacy inquests, bringing total expenditure by the LSA on legal aid cases in 2024/25 to £120m.
LSA staff are succeeding in efforts to reduce the length of time it takes to make payments for legal aid work. On 31 March 2025, the Agency had a total of £5.7m of bills to assess – compared to £13.6m at the same time in 2024. This represents a 58% reduction.
Unassessed bills are currently sitting at £3.9m - a reduction of 32% since the end of March 2025.
The Minister continued: “It is a pleasure to be back at the LSA, to mark the 10th anniversary of the creation of the Agency.
“The LSA plays a crucial role in the delivery of justice in Northern Ireland and I want to pay tribute to everyone at the Agency for their hard work, particularly the ongoing efforts to reduce the length of time for legal aid payments.
“I know it has been a challenging period. The increased spend on legal aid demonstrates not only an increase in demand but it also reflects the contribution the Agency makes to the civil and criminal justice systems.”
Notes to editors:
1.Photo captions: Justice Minister Naomi Long paid a visit to Legal Services Agency on its 10th anniversary to meet with senior management and staff.
2. For media enquiries please contact DoJ Press Office via Email
3. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted out of hours on 028 9037 8110.