Criminal silks could see a significant drop in pay to match the rates of leading junior barristers, following recommendations made by the Legal Services Commission (LSC) last week.

At a meeting between the LSC and Criminal Bar Association (CBA) on 20 September, the LSC outlined plans to overhaul the current pay system for legal aid work at the criminal Bar, including a proposal that could see barristers remunerated in line with the new Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) instead of the current Advocate Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS).

If approved, the move would see advocates paid according to their QASA level. QASA is divided into four grades, with grade four covering both silks and leading juniors, meaning they would be paid at the same level.

The LSC has also stated that under the proposals there will be "no circumstances in which judges could certify cases as requiring silk", but instead require a QASA level four.

The current pay scheme for criminal barristers sees counsel paid by title, with pay levels rising from junior to led junior and leading junior to QC.

The QASA was approved by the Bar Standards Board in June this year, and is currently under review by the Legal Services Board, with a view to implementation in December this year.

25 Bedford Row's John Cooper QC said: "The ramifications of this are far-reaching. Of course it potentially means that the facility of a silk in a defence case will be lost.

"However, it is probably not at the higher end that there will be ramifications – this will have significant effects on the whole structure of the Bar. If silks fall to a grade four, four will fall to three etc so the people that may well be squeezed out are those starting at the Bar now."

An LSC spokesperson said: "We recently discussed with representatives of barristers and solicitor-advocates how to use the QASA as a basis for eligibility and payment of fees to advocates in crime legal aid cases. We previously mentioned the idea in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

"At this stage, with QASA still in development, it's only right that we gather views from all concerned before we draft proposals. It would then be for government ministers to decide whether they wish to pursue proposals and put them to consultation."

The news follows reports of severe delays in the payment of legal aid fees by the LSC, after the body took over responsibility for payments from Her Majesty's Courts Service earlier this year.

The delays have led to an outcry from the Bar, with some young barristers set to be unable to afford to go to court due to the backlog in payments.