§ Mr. OlnerTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assumptions were made in the public expenditure survey figures published on 12 November 1992 for the average cost of criminal legal aid bills in the magistrates courts to be paid in 1993–94.
Mr. John M. TaylorIt is estimated that the average cost of criminal legal aid bills in the magistrates courts in 1993–94 would be £484 if the current rates and levels of fees were maintained.
§ Mr. OlnerTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will provide a detailed breakdown of savings to be achieved from his proposed changes to legal aid eligibility.
Mr. John M. TaylorIt is estimated that the measures announced by the Lord Chancellor on 12 November 1992 will reduce legal aid expenditure by £43 million in 1993–94, £110 million in 1994–95, and £173 million in 1995–96. It is not possible to provide separate figures for all the individual proposals, since most of them are interdependent and can only be costed together.
§ Mr. OlnerTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the estimate for the average cost of criminal legal aid bills in the magistrates courts paid in 1992–93.
Mr. John M. TaylorOn the latest information, the average cost of a criminal legal aid bill in the magistrates courts in 1992–93 is estimated to be £459.
§ Mr. OlnerTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) what was the cost to legal aid in each case prosecuted by the Metropolitan police fraud investigation group in which the legal bills were determined after 1 April 1992;
(2) what was the cost to legal aid for each case prosecuted by the Serious Fraud Office in which the legal aid bills were paid after 1 April 1992.
Mr. John M. TaylorIt is not possible to identify individual cases prosecuted by the Metropolitan police fraud investigation group and the Serious Fraud Office from information held centrally by my Department. It is therefore not possible to identify the total amount paid from legal aid from 1 April 1992 in cases being brought by the Metropolitan police fraud investigation group or Serious Fraud Office.
§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will state for each magistrates court in England and Wales what percentage of applications for criminal legal aid was refused on merit in the latest year for which figures are available.
342W
Mr. John M. TaylorInformation on the grant of criminal legal aid in magistrates courts for 1991, which is the latest year for which figures are available, was published on 4 August 1992. Copies are available in the Library. The figures do not distinguish between refusals on grounds of merits and on means.
§ Mr. OlnerTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment he has made of the effect on costs to the court system of changes in the numbers of litigants in person appearing before the civil and criminal courts resulting from the proposed changes in arrangements in legal aid elegibility.
Mr. John M. TaylorVery little effect is expected on criminal legal aid as a result of the eligibility changes. So far as civil legal aid is concerned, the Department does not envisage that there will be any significant increase in the number of unrepresented litigants.
§ Mr. OlnerTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will publish the advice tendered to the Lord Chancellor by his advisory committee on legal aid about the proposed changes to the arrangements for legal aid eligibility.
Mr. John M. TaylorThe legal aid advisory committee has already made public its advice to the Lord Chancellor on the proposed eligibility changes and the Lord, Chancellor's response to its advice. I have placed copies of the correspondence in the Library.
§ Mr. OlnerTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) what was the number of grants of criminal legal aid for magistrates courts in(a) 1991 and (b) 1992;
(2) how many legal aid orders were granted for each magistrates court for which information is available (a) between October and December 1991 and (b) between October and December 1992.
Mr. John M. TaylorThe number of grants of criminal legal aid for magistrates courts in 1991, as published in the Lord Chancellor's Department "Judicial Statistics" (1991 edition, table 10.2), was 514,000. The figure for 1992 is not yet available, but is estimated to be 513,000.
The number of legal aid orders granted for each magistrates' court for which information is available, from 355 courts, between October and December 1991 was as follows:
343W
Number Bristol 1,363 Long Ashton 57 Weston-Super-Mare 184 North Avon 490 Bath and Wandyke 291 Ampthill 24 Bedford 265 Biggleswade 46 Forest 151 Slough 215 Windsor 95 West Berkshire 245 Reading and Sonning 726 Burnham 85 Aylesbury 173 Buckingham 18 Wycombe 182 Chiltern 69 344W
Number Ellesmere Port and Neston 0 Halton 310 Warrington 506 Hartlepool 308 Langbaurgh 124 Teesside 1,373 East Penwith 62 East Powder 128 Pydar 33 Bodmin 0 South East Cornwall 0 Truro and South Power 78 Falmouth and kerrier 64 Dunheved and Stratton 89 Carlisle 356 keswick 309 North Lonsdale 0 Whitehaven 0 Wigton 22 West Allerdale 0 Barrow with Bootle 180 South Lakes 14 Kendal and Lonsdale 43 Appleby 1 Penrith and Alston 26 Norwich 893 Diss 0 Wymondham 0 Great Yarmouth 279 Cromer 48 Thetford 213 North Walsham 38 Chesterfield 420 Glossop 74 High Peak 102 Ilkeston 374 Alfreton and Belper 137 Derby and South Derbyshire 916 West Derbyshire 82 Norwich 0 Axminster 0 Cullompter 0 Exeter 533 Exmouth 0 Honiton 0 Kingsbridge 18 Okehampton 50 Plymouth 632 Plympton 17 Tavistock 0 Teignbridge 157 Tiverton 0 Torbay 310 Totnes 28 Wonford 0 Bournemouth 624 Bridport 34 Christchurch 70 Dorchester 16 Poole 315 Sherborne 16 Wareham 72 Weymouth and Portland 216 Wimborne 83 Blandford and Sturminster 25 Shaftesbury 25 Chester-le-Street 122 Darlington 190 Derwentside 171 Durham 165 Easington 279 Sedgefield 278 Battle and Rye 46 Bexhill 65 Brighton 556 Crowborough 44 Eastbourne 259 Hailsham 47 345W
Number Hastings 294 Lewes 116 Basildon 296 Brentwood 102 Dunmow 33 Freshwell and South Hinckford 49 Harlow 170 Harwich 74 Saffron Walden 37 Tendring 171 Thurrock 241 Halstead and Hedingham 19 Rochford and Southend 839 Maldon and Witham 101 Cheltenham 391 Tewkesbury 31 Gloucester 433 South Gloucestershire 188 North Cotswold 35 Forest of Dean 92 Bolton 846 Bury 426 Manchester 1,740 Oldham 541 Middleton and Heywood 154 Rochdale 553 Eccles 161 Salford 510 Stockport 731 Trafford 422 Leigh 242 Wigan 375 Havant 344 Odiham (Aldershot) 248 Portsmouth 782 Southampton 717 Alton and Petersfield 100 Havering 394 Bromsgrove 108 Redditch 201 Mid-Worcestershire 189 Worcester-City 213 Docorum 150 South Mimms 0 Watford 339 Barton-upon-Humber 6 Brigg 11 Epworth and Goole 77 Kingston-upon-Hull 1,083 Middle Holderness 4 Scunthorpe 326 South Holderness 7 Grimsby and Cleethorpes 599 Canterbury and St. Augustine 177 Dartford 118 Gravesham 0 Maidstone 164 Margate 132 Medway 520 Ramsgate 106 Sevenoaks 78 Tonbridge and Malling 137 Tunbridge Wells and Cranbrook 139 Faversham and Sittingbourne 225 Blackpool 527 Burnley 289 Lancaster 241 Ormskirk 226 Preston 458 Rossendale 161 South Ribble 222 Hyndburn 215 Ashy-de-la-Zouch 58 Leicester (City) 657 Market Bosworth 102 Caistor 6 Gainsborough 126 346W
Number Elloes 104 Wolds 57 Lincoln District 385 Sleaford 36 Market Rasen 11 Spilsby and Skegness 294 Knowsley 515 Liverpool 2,604 St. Helens 564 North Sefton 451 South Sefton 68 Corby 164 Daventry 50 Kettering 179 Northampton 434 Towcester 42 Wellingborough 206 Morpeth Ward 96 Wansbeck 192 Tynedale 100 Coquetdale 74 Berwick upon Tweed 42 Scarborough 174 Selby 109 Staincliffe 74 York 341 Northallerton 106 Easingwold 34 Richmond 66 Ryedale 47 East Retford 73 Worksop 181 Mansfield 550 Newark and Southwell 187 Nottingham 1,670 Guildhall 277 Bow Street MC 661 Clerkenwell MC 734 Marlborough Street MC 542 Marylebone MC 653 Old Street MC 399 South Western MC 851 Thames MC 552 Tower Bridge MC 656 West London MC (Southcombe S) 492 Woolwich MC 410 Camberwell Green MC 1,147 Walton Street MC (West London) 8 Horseferry Road MC 759 Highbury Corner MC 1,129 Bicester 62 Oxford 382 Abingdon 88 Woodstock 20 North Oxford and Chipping Norton 124 Witney 47 Sedgemoor 206 Taunton Deane 162 West Somerset 25 Mendip 114 East Oxfordshire 49 Didcot and Wantage 52 Stratford MC (Newham) 682 Barnet 161 Bromley 552 Bexley 343 Croydon 713 Sutton 393 Ealing MC 870 Hampstead MC 52 Edmonton/Tottenham (Enfield) 601 Harrow MC 303 Willesden MC 651 Uxbridge 559 Richmond upon Thames 266 347W
Number Barnsley 601 Doncaster 563 Sheffield 2,282 Burton-upon-Trent 246 Cheadle 121 Eccleshall 0 Leek 0 Lichfield 119 Newcastle-under-Lyme 276 Pirehill North 0 Stafford 260 Stoke-on-Trent 888 Stone 0 Tamworth 131 Uttoxeter 0 Kingston-upon-Thames 418 Barking 299 Beccles 318 Felixstowe 45 Mildenhall (Lackford) 51 Lowestoft 0 Newmarket 31 Risbridge 56 Sudbury and Cosford 61 Woodbridge 19 Ipswich 423 Saxmundham 0 St. Edmundsbury 116 Stow 51 Dorking 104 Epsom 103 Guildford 314 Staines and Sunbury 153 Gateshead 516 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 650 North Tyneside 489 South Tyneside 487 Houghton-le-Spring 180 Sunderland 704 Rugby 142 South Warwickshire 91 Mid-Warwickshire 201 Birmingham 2,563 Sutton Coldfield 325 Coventry 1,203 Dudley 533 Halesowen 81 Stourbridge 88 Warley 390 West Bromwich 311 Solihull 584 Aldridge and Brownhills 188 Wolverhampton 631 Horsham 102 Mid Sussex 169 Steyning 302 Worthing 0 Bradford 1,043 Keighley 315 Brighouse 44 Todmorden 43 Calder 434 Huddersfield 486 Leeds 1,874 Morley 0 Pudsey and Otley 0 Skyrack and Wetherby 0 Pontefract 330 Wakefield 361 Batley and Dewsbury 328 Salisbury 203 West Wiltshire 193 Berwyn 37 Colwyn 98 Dyffryn Clwyd 46 Rhuddlan 222 Wrexham Maelor 256 Llanelli 229
Number Ceredigion Ganol 35 Gogledd Ceredigion 65 De Ceredigion 21 Dinefwr 85 Bedwellty 255 Newport 389 East Gwent 235 Bangor 0 Eifionydd 0 North Anglesey 0 Pwllheli 0 South Anglesey 128 Caernarfon and Gwyrfai 228 Cynon Valley 293 Lower Rhymney Valley 190 Merthyr Tydfil 347 Miskin 663 Upper Rhymney Valley 26 Drayton 60 Oswestry 70 Shrewsbury 240 Machynlleth 99 Welshpool 0 Vale of Glamorgan 253 Newtown 0 Port Talbot 146 Lliw Valley 139 Swansea 675 Total 96,863 The number of legal aid orders granted for each magistrates court for which information is available, from 219 courts, between October and December 1992 was as follows:—
348W
Number Bristol 1,279 Bath and Wandyke 253 Woodspring 214 Ampthill 26 Bedford 195 Biggleswade 45 West Berkshire 202 Reading and Sonning 642 Burnham 75 Aylesbury 186 Buckingham 27 Chiltern 68 Huntingdonshire 248 Halton 294 Warrington 422 Hartlepool 302 Langbaurgh 107 Teesside 1,363 East Penwith 82 Truro and South Powder 47 Falmouth and Kerrier 53 Carlisle 243 Whitehaven 220 Wigton 16 South Lakes 17 Kendal and Lonsdale 72 Appleby 3 Penrith and Alston 40 Chesterfield 582 Glossop 47 High Peak 84 West Derbyshire 78 Central Norfolk 0 Norwich 688 South Norfolk 163 Plymouth 558 Teignbridge 110 Torbay 205 Bournemouth 695 349W
Number Bridport 34 Christchurch 62 Dorchester 31 Poole 236 Sherborne 9 Wareham 40 Weymouth and Portland 162 Wimborne 55 Blandford and Sturminster 52 Shaftesbury 18 Chester-le-Street 91 Darlington 259 Durham 216 Easington 297 Sedgefield 289 Teesdale and Wear Valley 257 Brighton 361 Crowborough 45 Eastbourne 177 Hailsham 51 Hove 85 Lewes 93 Basildon 192 Brentwood 54 Thurrock 198 Rochford and Southend 822 Cheltenham 411 Tewkesbury 31 South Gloucestershire 150 North Cotswold 37 Forest of Dean 90 Manchester 1,409 Oldham 678 Rochdale 343 Salford 400 Leigh 150 Wigan 254 Odiham (Aldershot) 210 Portsmouth 779 Alton and Petersfield 108 Dacorum 138 Watford 275 South and Middle Holderness 7 Scunthorpe Brigg and Barton Division 257 Epworth and Goole 80 Grimsby and Cleethorpes 433 Maidstone 229 Margate 82 Ramsgate 74 Tunbridge Wells and Cranbrook 130 Faversham and Sittingbourne 162 Burnley 344 Lancaster 153 Ormskirk 142 Preston 289 Hyndburn 218 Ashby-de-la-Zouch 64 Leicester 658 Market Bosworth 106 Market Harborough and Lutter 28 Caistor 9 Gainsborough 122 Wolds 60 Lincoln District 345 Market Rasen 7 Spilsdy and Skegness 227 Knowsley 312 Liverpool 2,464 St. Helens 454 North Sefton 396 South Sefton 240 Daventry 66 350W
Number Kettering 161 Northampton 359 Towcester 36 Wellingborough 163 Morpeth Ward 87 Berwick upon Tweed 59 Scarborough 162 Selby 43 Staincliffe 72 York 210 Northallerton 124 Easingwold 37 Richmond 49 Ryedale 36 East Retford 65 Worksop 154 Mansfield 523 Newark and Southwell 140 Nottingham 1,654 Bow Street MC 493 Clerkenwell MC 525 Marylebone MC 380 Old Street MC 500 South Western MC 772 Thames MC 572 Tower Bridge MC 547 West London MC(Southcombe S) 367 Woolwich MC 380 Camberwell Green MC 849 Walton Street MC (West London) 9 Horseferry Road MC 481 Henley 61 Oxford 271 Abingdon 89 Witney 42 Sedgemoor 130 Mendip 113 Didcot and Wantage 63 Stratford MC (Newham) 473 West Ham MC 0 Bromley 380 Bexley 186 Croydon 726 Sutton 229 Ealing MC 631 Hampstead MC 84 Harrow MC 253 Uxbridge 352 Richmond upon Thames 274 Barnsley 674 Doncaster 544 Sheffield 1,828 Mid-Staffordshire 265 Staffordshire Moorlands 107 Newcastle-under-Lyme and Pirehill 224 Barking 223 Mildenhall (Lackford) 43 Newmarket 32 Risbridge 28 Sudbury and Cosford 59 St. Edmundsbury 75 Stow 21 Dorking 99 Epsom 95 Esher and Walton 78 Guildford 201 Staines and Sunbury 120 Gateshead 543 North Tyneside 432 Birmingham 1,899 Sutton Coldfield 336 Coventry 871 Dudley 411 Halesowen 76 Stourbridge 72
Number Warley 296 West Bromwich 194 Solihull 475 Horsham 65 Bradford 994 Keighley 250 Brighouse 38 Todmorden 32 Calder 337 Huddersfield 448 Pontefract 250 Wakefield 347 Batley and Dewsbury 292 Salisbury 671 West Wiltshire 178 Berwyn 17 Rhuddlan 189 Wrexham Maelor 207 Gogledd Preseli 16 South Pembrokeshire 101 Bedwellty 221 East Gwent 203 Caernarfon and Gwyrfai 203 Cynon Valley 159 Lower Rhymney Valley 204 Merthyr Tydfil 270 Miskin 663 Newcastle and Ogmore 311 Upper Rhymney Valley 28 Oswestry 58 Shrewsbury 201 Lliw Valley 0 Swansea 790 TOTAL 60,188
§ Mr. OlnerTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is his Department's estimate of the number of(a) contributory civil legal aid certificates and (b) non-contributory civil legal aid certificates to be issued in 1993–94 if (i) the financial conditions remain unchanged and (ii) the Lord Chancellor's proposals announced on 12 November are introduced.
Mr. John M. TaylorIt is estimated that in 1993–94 283,000 civil legal aid certificates will be issued of which 198,000 will be non-contributory and 85,000 contributory. If eligibility conditions had not been changed, it is estimated that 410,000 certificates would have been issued in 1993–94 of which about 330,000 would have been non-contributory and 80,000 contributory.