§ 6.48 p m.
§ The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne rose to move, That the draft regulations laid before the House on 7th March be approved [11th Report from the Joint Committee].
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, the first two sets of regulations provide for the uprating of the financial eligibility limits for civil legal aid and for advice and 556 assistance. The Civil Legal Aid (Financial Conditions) (Scotland) Regulations 1994 raise the lower disposable income limit for civil legal aid from £2,293 to £2,382 a year. The regulations also increase the upper limit from £6,800 to £7,060 a year. The Advice and Assistance (Financial Conditions) (Scotland) Regulations 1994 provide for a similar uprating in relation to advice and assistance. In these cases the calculation is carried out on the basis of weekly income. The regulations raise the lower limit from £61 to £63, and the upper limit from £147 to £153. The regulations also revise the scale of contributions for applicants with disposable income between the upper and lower income limits for advice and assistance.
These proposed changes represent an increase of 3.8 per cent., matching the uprating level of income-related social security benefit. They are entirely straightforward and do not introduce any new provisions into this area of the legal aid system. The regulations are proposed to come into force on 11th April, the day when the annual social security uprating comes into effect.
The third and fourth sets of regulations provide for the extension of assistance by way of representation, which is a form of advice and assistance under the legal aid arrangements, to cover a number of straightforward cases and to exclude the same cases from eligibility for criminal legal aid. These are technical changes designed to streamline and improve the administration of the legal aid system.
We will also shortly be laying before the House a number of further regulations under the negative resolution procedure to enact a number of further minor and technical amendments and improvements to the legal aid system in Scotland.
These regulations make provision for the uprating of eligibility limits and for other useful, if minor, changes to the system of legal aid in Scotland. I commend them to your Lordships' House.
Moved, That the draft regulations laid before the house on 7th March be approved [11th Report from the Joint Committee].—(The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.)
§ Lord Macaulay of BragarMy Lords, I am glad that the noble Earl, like ourselves on this side of the House, is concerned with the question of access to justice. The matters that he has raised have been debated in another place to a large extent and various issues have been raised. We await further consideration of what took place there. I will not detain your Lordships' House by discussing these matters in detail.
I raise only two issues. First, I should like to ask the Minister how the new figures compare in real terms with the levels that applied from 1989 onwards. Secondly, since the alterations were made in 1989 perhaps he can tell us how many applicants have refused offers of legal aid because the contribution that they have been required to make in respect of civil litigation is too expensive. Are the Government satisfied that the alterations that are made by these orders increase access to justice by litigants and that that has been maintained and not diminished by financial restrictions? I know it is not possible for the Minister to answer those 557 questions at short notice, but I shall await his reply in due course when he is able to write to me on these matters.
§ The Earl of Strathmore and KinghorneMy Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Macaulay of Bragar, asks two important questions. Unfortunately, the information is not available in the form requested at present. I can however say that in the large majority of grants of civil legal aid no contribution is payable. The noble Lord is absolutely correct in what he says: I do not have the information with me. I undertake to write to him on both points.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.