§ 13. Mr. Carterasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applicants were refused legal aid in the city of Birmingham during the period June, 1969, to June, 1970; and what this figure represents as a percentage of all applications.
§ Mr. CarlisleIn 1969, the latest year for which statistics are available, the number of applications refused by the Birmingham City Magistrates' Court was 1,317, or 26.4 per cent. and the number refused by Birmingham Quarter Sessions was four, or 1.6 per cent.
§ Mr. CarterI thank the Minister for his reply and the letter which I have received from him on the same subject. Will he investigate the abnormally high refusal rate, one person who has been refused being a constituent of mine about whom we have been in correspondence?
§ Mr. CarlisleAs the hon. Gentleman knows, the magistrates have granted every application for legal aid where the case went to quarter sessions either for trial or sentence, and the vast majority, all but 11, of the committal proceedings. I can only repeat what I said in the Adjournment debate, that the figures in summary proceedings vary because of the different local conditions in different parts of the country.