A Birmingham lawyer was the highest-paid legal aid criminal barrister for the second year running, official figures revealed today.

Balbir Singh, the head of Equity Chambers, was paid £957,000 out of the public purse in 2006-07, following the £1.1 million he received in the previous 12 months.

In the last three years, Mr Singh, a former magistrates’ clerk, has been paid more than £2.8 million in legal aid.

He was the only barrister on the Ministry of Justice’s list of highest earners for criminal defence work who has not been appointed Queen’s Counsel, the elite rank of senior barristers.

The 10 barristers on the criminal defence list earned a total of £7.8 million between them.

The second highest earning criminal barrister was John Rees, QC, who earned £956,000, up from £947,000 the previous year.

Third highest was Oliver Blunt, QC, who earned £924,000. Mr Blunt was also fourth-placed in the 2005-06 ranking with £913,000.

Jeremy Rosenblatt was the highest paid barrister for civil legal aid work, receiving £508,000. The 10 lawyers on the civil list earned a total of £3.4 million between them.

The Ministry of Justice stressed that the payments can cover work over a number of years and were “carefully scrutinised”.

The sums do not represent barristers’ personal earnings because the amounts are subject to VAT and do not take account of professional overheads paid by the legal profession, such as staff costs and office fees.

Reforms introduced by the Government in 2006 pledged to end the £1 million-a-year legal aid barrister and trim £100 million off the annual legal aid bill.

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