Weekly summary for COVID-19 Interim Payment Scheme requests by legal aid suppliers - week ending 24 July 2020

Date published: 02 August 2020

The Legal Services Agency Northern Ireland (LSANI) launched the COVID-19 Interim Payment Scheme (IPS) on Thursday 7 May 2020. The figures contained below represent Management Information (MI) detailing activity under this scheme for both barristers and solicitor firms up to and including Friday 24 July 2020.

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COVID-19 Interim Payment Scheme update

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In keeping with the terms of the Interim Payment Scheme, the final date for submissions of claims will be 7 August 2020. Practitioners are encouraged to ensure that all claims submitted are in keeping with the terms of the Scheme.

 

 

 

COVID-19 Interim Payment Scheme barrister activity as at 24 July 2020

1. Payment requests received

  • In the week ending Friday 24 July 2020, 129 IPS requests were submitted via LAMS. This compares with 128 requests during the previous week (note: there were two public holidays during the previous week - 13 and 14 July 2020), bringing the overall number of IPS requests since the scheme began to 3,408.
  • These 3,408 payment requests were submitted by 178 individual legal aid providers (including both Barristers and Solicitor Firms).
  • Of these 3,408 payment requests submitted up to the week ending 24 July 2020, almost a quarter (24%; 801) were submitted by 67 separate Barristers.    
  • Figure 1 shows that 30 IPS requests were submitted by Barristers in the week ending 24 July 2020 (Week 11), down from 37 in the previous week (to 17 July 2020, which included two public holidays - 13 and 14 July 2020) and representing the smallest number of requests submitted by Barristers over one week since the commencement of the scheme (Figure 1).
  • Overall (as at 24 July 2020), more than half of IPS requests from Barristers have been submitted against Rep Higher certificates (58%), with 41% submitted against Criminal certificates. The final 1% were submitted under Rep Lower (Figure 1).

 

Figure 1

Figure 1 - Barrister requests as a bar graph for the IPS - 24 July 2020

 

2. Outcomes of requests received

  • Of the 3,408 IPS requests received by LSANI up to the 24 July 2020, 3,384 (99%) have a completed status. While the majority of these (2,244) have been determined, 1,140 requests have been rejected for various reasons.
  • Figure 2 shows that, as at 24 July 2020, 61% (488) of all Barrister requests with a completed status have been determined, while 39% (311) have been rejected.

 

Figure 2

Figure 2 - Completed Barrister Requests as at 24 July 2020

 

In the week ending 24 July 2020, a total of £9,158 was authorised for payment to Barristers, bringing the overall total paid to Barristers since the scheme went live to £184,398.

 

COVID-19 Interim Payment Scheme solicitor firm activity as at 24 July 2020

 

1. Payment requests received

  • In the week ending Friday 24 July 2020, 129 IPS requests were submitted via LAMS. This compares with 128 requests during the previous week (note: there were two public holidays during the previous week - 13 and 14 July 2020), bringing the overall number of IPS requests since the scheme began to 3,408
  • These 3,408 payment requests were submitted by 178 individual legal aid providers (including both Barristers and Solicitor Firms).
  • Of these 3,408 payment requests submitted up to the week ending Friday 24 July 2020, over three-quarters (76%; 2,607) were submitted by 111 separate Solicitor Firms. 
  • 99 IPS requests were submitted by Solicitor Firms in the week ending 24 July 2020 (Week 11), compared to 91 requests in the previous week (to 17 July 2020, which included two public holidays - 13 and 14 July 2020) (Figure 1).
  • Since the scheme began up to 24 July 2020, over half of all IPS requests from Solicitor Firms have been submitted against Criminal certificates (55%1), with 29%1 submitted against Rep Higher certificates. The final 17%[1] were submitted under Rep Lower (Figure 1).

[1] These percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding.

 

Figure 1

 

Figure 1 - Solicitor Firm requests as a bar graph for the IPS - 24 July 2020

 

2. Outcomes of requests received

  • Of the 3,408 IPS requests received by LSANI up to the 24 July 2020, 3,384 (99%) have a completed status. While the majority of these (2,244) have been determined, 1,140 requests have been rejected for various reasons.
  • Figure 2 shows that, as at 24 July 2020, 68% (1,756) of all Solicitor Firm requests with a completed status have been determined, while 32% (829) have been rejected.

 

Figure 2

Figure 2 - Completed Solicitor Firm Requests as a circle graph for the IPS at 24 July 2020

 

In the week ending 24 July 2020, a total of £23,046 was authorised for payment to Solicitor Firms, bringing the overall total paid to Solicitor Firms since the scheme went live to £789,590.

 

 

Please note that printable PDF versions of these reports are located within the Important updates & notices page under the title Summary reports for COVID-19 IPS requests.

 

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