§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement setting out the legal aid funds which have been made available to Mr. Peter Clowes at each stage of the legal proceedings leading to his conviction for matters relating to the collapse of the Barlow Clowes companies and his subsequent attempts to obtain parole; if he will specify at each of those stages the sums paid or liable to become payable to Ms Cherie Booth QC, or practices in which she has an interest; if he will identify those specific steps which have been taken by the Legal Aid Board to verify Mr. Clowes' claims to have insufficient financial resources to finance his own legal advice; and if he will make it his policy to ensure that public funds are not in future used to finance parole applications for convicted fraudsters. [39324]
Mr. John M. TaylorDetails of legal aid paid to lawyers acting on behalf of Mr. Peter Clowes at each stage of the legal proceedings leading to his conviction for matters relating to the collapse of the Barlow Clowes companies are shown in the table. No payments have yet been made in support of the judicial review proceedings taken out against the Parole Board's decision not to grant parole to Mr. Clowes. Our records indicate that none of these payments were made, or are liable to be made, to Ms Cherie Booth QC or practices in which she has an interest. The Legal Aid Board has had inquiries made into Mr. Clowes' statement of means and has granted civil legal aid on the basis of the information provided. Further investigations are being carried out by the Benefits Agency. Because of the confidentiality provisions of the Legal Aid Act 1988 I cannot disclose any details of the application. Nor can I comment on whether or not legal aid should be used to support similar applications in future as every application for legal aid has to be judged on its individual merits.
Legal Aid including VAT £ Magistrates' court 47,521 Crown Court 2,527,663 Court of Appeal 35,843