HC Deb 11 December 1997 vol 302 cc664-6W
Mr. Kidney

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was(a) the cost of legal aid before cost recovery and retention of contributions, (b) the amount of cost recovered, (c) the amount of contributions retained and (d) the net cost after deduction of costs recovered and contributions retained for (i) contract, (ii) Inheritance Act, (iii) landlord and tenant and (iv) housing and disrepair proceedings in each of the last four years. [19278]

Mr. Hoon

Legal aid gross expenditure, costs recovered, and contributions retained in (i) contract (ii) Inheritance Act and (iii) landlord and tenant proceedings for cases closed during the last four financial years are as follows:

£ million
1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97
Gross payments
Contract 40.2 44.1 56.0 60.3
Inheritance Act 2.9 3.1 4.2 4.4
Landlord and tenant 20.4 24.6 31.7 33.9
Gross recovered
Contract 9.0 9.5 13.0 14.9
Inheritance Act 1.2 1.4 1.9 1.7
Landlord and tenant 5.2 7.9 11.1 14.1
Contributions retained
Contract 0.76 0.83 1.02 1.13
Inheritance Act 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.15
Landlord and tenant 0.19 0.22 0.26 0.33
Net of costs (after deduction of costs recovered and contributions retained)
Contract 28.4 31.9 39.8 41.3
Inheritance Act 1.2 1.1 1.6 1.7
Landlord and tenant 14.4 15.9 19.5 18.5

It is not possible to provide information separately in respect of housing and disrepair matte1rs.

Mr. Kidney

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was(a) the cost of legal aid before cost recovery and retention of contributions, (b) the amount of cost recovered, (c) the amount of contributions retained and (d) the net cost after deduction of costs recovered and contributions retained for (i) civil litigation and (ii) professional and other negligence, excluding in each case personal injury and medical negligence in each of the last four years. [19277]

Mr. Hoon

A breakdown of legal aid expenditure and receipts in respect of civil litigation and professional and other negligence, excluding personal injury and medical negligence, for cases closed in the last four years was as follows:

£ million
1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97
Civil litigation (including professional and other negligence)
Gross Payments 436.6 474.9 566.1 622.4
Costs Received 55.2 60.6 71.5 80.7
Damages Retained 45.8 44.7 47.3 59.0
Contributions Retained 10.4 10.9 12.5 15.4
Net Costs 325.8 359.1 435.6 467.9
Professional and other negligence
Gross Payments 40.2 48.2 45.0 49.2
Costs Received 20.9 24.7 25.9 27.9
Damages Retained 1.1 1.0 1.3 1.7
Contributions Retained 0.4 0.4 0.4 1.0
Net Costs 13.9 22.1 17.6 19.2

£ million
Gross payments Costs received Damages retained Contributions retained Net costs
All personal injury litigation 274.1 206.7 4.1 2.0 61.8
Medical negligence 54.3 25..8 0.6 0.7 27.2
Personal injury (excluding medical negligence) 219.8 180.9 3.5 1.3 34.6

Mr. Kidney

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was(a) the cost of legal aid for non-matrimonial proceedings, excluding Children Act proceedings, before cost recovery and retention of contributions, (b) the amount of cost recovered, (c) the amount of contributions retained and (d) the net cost after deduction of costs recovered and contributions retained in each of the last four years. [19279]

Mr. Hoon

A breakdown of the legal aid expenditure and receipts in respect of non-matrimonial cases, excluding Children Act proceedings, for cases closed in the last four years was as follows:

£ million
1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97
Gross payments 317.0 375.8 454.8 509.7
Costs recovered 164.1 197.2 245.0 281.3
Contributions retained 3.1 4.0 4.6 5.3
Net costs (after deduction of costs recovered and contributions retained) 149.8 174.6 205.2 223.1

Mr. Kidney

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the proportion of damages recovered in all legally aided(a) personal injury and (b) medical negligence cases closed in each of the last three years. [19280]

Mr. Hoon

The proportion of damages recovered by the Legal Aid Board in legally aided personal injury and medical negligence cases closed in each of the last three years were as follows:

1994–95 1995–96 1996–97
Personal injury
Gross costs £151.5 million £189.3 million £219.8 million
Damages recovered £2.2 million £3.0 million £3.5 million
Percentage of damages recovered 1.5 1.6 1.6

Mr. Kidney

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was(a) the cost of legal aid for personal injury litigation before cost recovery and retention of contributions, (b) the amount of cost recovered, (c) the amount of contributions retained and (d) the net cost after deduction of costs recovered and contributions retained for (i) all personal injury litigation, (ii) medical negligence cases and (iii) personal injury cases excluding medical negligence in 1996–97. [19281]

Mr.Hoon

A breakdown of legal aid expenditure and receipts in respect of personal injury litigation and medical negligence cases for cases closed in 1996–97, was as follows:

1994–95 1995–96 1996–97
Medical negligence
Gross costs £38.6 million £50.2 million £54.3 million
Damages recovered £0.6 million £0.7 million £0.6 million
Percentage of damages recovered 1.6 1.4 1.1