§ Mr. DjanoglyTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans the Government has for reducing unproductive time spent by defence solicitors in(a) courts and (b) police stations. [185034]
§ Mr. LammyThe Government are anxious to ensure that solicitors' time is spent productively at court and at police stations. Last year we consulted on proposals to focus both the court duty solicitor scheme and the police station duty solicitor scheme on those cases where an individual's liberty was at real risk or where an individual's interests could be properly advanced. These changes were introduced in regulations and in the General Criminal Contract on 17 May 2004. The Fundamental Legal Aid Review (FLAR) is looking at the efficiencies of the processes for defence solicitors in police stations, as is the Effective Trial Management Programme (ETMP) for the courts.