§ Mr. Roseasked the Attorney-General what is the average cost to the Legal Aid Fund of an undefended divorce during the last 10 years, respectively; and what was the total sum allocated in respect of divorce proceedings generally during each of those years.
§ The Attorney-GeneralInformation about the separate cost to the Legal Aid Fund of undefended divorce cases is not available for the years before 1971–72. The average cost to the fund of such cases—including ancillary proceedings—
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1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 Stipendiary Magistrates appointed to the Circuit Bench … 7 — — 1 1 Circuit Judges appointed to the High Court Bench … — 1 1 — 1 in payments to solicitors and counsel, but not including administration costs, in each of the last five years, was:
£ 1971–72 … … … 115.49 1972–73 … … … 119.86 1973–74 … … … 136.85 1974–75 … … … 152.09 1975–76 … … … 179.73 The total cost to the fund of divorce proceedings in the same terms, in each of the last 10 years was:
£ million 1966–67 … … … 4.779 1967–68 … … … 5.088 1968–69 … … … 5.829 1969–70 … … … 6.204 1970–71 … … … 6.345 1971–72 … … … 5.215 1972–73 … … … 8.225 1973–74 … … … 8.546 1974–75 … … … 10.208 1975–76 … … … 12.691