§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much was spent on(a) criminal and (b) civil legal aid in (i) 1998–99, (ii) 1999–2000 and (iii) 2000–01; and what the projected figure is for 2001–02. [R] [157429]
§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what research his Department has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the impact of the Legal Services Commission on people excluded from civil legal aid as a result of the Access to Justice Act 1999. [R] [157434]
§ Mr. LockThe Lord Chancellor's Department has commissioned a joint research project involving the universities of Nottingham, Oxford and Surrey. This will be the first major comparative evaluation of the effects of conditional fees on personal injury litigation and will report towards the end of this year. The research will contribute to a better understanding of the range of methods available for supporting litigation where risks are substantially removed from the claimant. It will also inform us how the legal services conditional fee market is operating and developing. The researchers will create a database that can be used in conjunction with data collected in future for the purposes of policy evaluation and for future policy changes.
§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much was spent on civil legal aid in relation to(a) social security, (b) employment, (c) landlord and tenant disputes, (d) immigration and nationality and (e) consumer issues in (i) 1998–99, (ii) 1999–2000 and (iii) 2000–01; what has been the change in the level of civil legal aid since the creation of the Community Legal Service, to civil legal aid in each of these areas; and what plans he has to increase the allocation of civil legal aid for these areas. [R] [157430]
§ Mr. LockThis information is not available in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Information is, however, available for expenditure on legal advice and assistance for 1998–99 and 1999–2000.
582W
£ million (a) Social security and welfare (i) 1998–99 16.651 (ii) 1999–2000 14.903 Information for 2000–01 is not yet available.
£ million (b) Employment (i) 1998–99 2.038 (ii) 1999–2000 1.936 (c) Landlord and tenant disputes (i) 1998–99 14.580 1999–2000 13.262 (d) Immigration and nationality (i) 1998–99 >48.800 (ii) 1999–2000 46.167 (e) Consumer issues (i) 1998–99 2.697 1999–2000 2.518 Legal aid provision, whether under the previous or current legislation has never been allocated to specific case categories. Rather, the grant of legal aid has always depended on the merits of each individual application.