§ Mrs. Winifred Ewingasked the Attorney-General what was the annual total cost of legal aid in England and 327W Wales, respectively, during each year during the period 1971 to date, for each year for which statistics are available.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe information, which covers England and Wales, as separate figures are not available, is as follows:
Civil legal aid scheme including criminal cases in magistrates' courts 1970–71 £12,060,631 1971–72 £14,603,184 1972–73 £17,953,068 1973–74 £21,247,676 1974–75 £28,907,691
Criminal legal aid excluding magistrates' courts* 1970–71 £5,353,699 1971–72 £6,161,105 1972–73 £9,726,424 1973–74 £10,291,116 1974–75 £14,382,669 * These figures include payments through local authorities for expenditure incurred prior to the coming into force of the Courts Act 1971.