§ Mr. GaleTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was, for the last five years for which figures are available, the proportion of the total legal aid bill incurred in(a) Counsel's fees and (b) QCs' fees; what was the proportion of the legal aid bill in each of the last five years spent on white collar fraud trials; and if he will make a statement. [38796]
§ Mr. HoonFor criminal higher legal aid, the proportion paid to counsel and to QCs in each year was as follows:
percentage 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 All counsel 54 55 55 53 55 QCs 21 24 27 26 26 For civil legal aid, criminal magistrates' legal aid, and advice and assistance, the proportion paid to counsel was as follows:
percentage 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 All counsel 11 11 11 10 15 It is not possible to identify separately payments made to QCs as the rank of counsel is not recorded on the Legal Aid Board's computer systems.
Nor is it possible to identify separately expenditure on white collar fraud. Fraud related offences are recorded under the general headings of "fraud", "false accounting" and "other forgery". In each of those categories, in completed Crown Court cases, the proportion of criminal higher expenditure was as follows:
percentage 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Fraud 10.8 10.3 15.1 14.4 10.5 False accounting 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.5 Other forgery 0.8 1.1 0.9 0.6 0.6