Max Hill KC

The director of public prosecutions announced that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had “secured additional funding” from ministers.

Max Hill KC said he had told the Bar Council, the representative body for barristers, that a deal had been struck to raise prosecution fees for trials held in the Crown Court in line with increases to legal aid rates for defence counsel.

The council said that “a strong and evidence-based case was made to the Treasury”.

Kirsty Brimelow KC, the leader of the Criminal Bar Association, said that the pay rise had been “hard fought” and was “welcome”.

She warned, however, that there was “still a long way to go to achieve a functioning criminal justice system” due to the mounting case backlog and shortage of Crown Court judges.

Mr Hill said: “HM Treasury has confirmed it will fund CPS to increase prosecution fees. This settlement will cover in full the uplift we need in order to achieve parity with defence fees.

“This is the right outcome. I have been clear that a fair justice system requires fees for prosecution and defence work to be the same. I am pleased that this has been recognised and we will be funded for this increase.”