§ Mr. Gordon MarsdenTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many(a) patients and (b) patients' families have received legal aid support for disputes with NHS trusts in the last five years. [166692]
§ Mr. LammyThe information requested is not directly available. The Legal Services Commission's computer systems do not record the status of the person receiving legal aid nor do they indicate who the dispute is against. However, the Commission is able to provide figures for the number of funding certificates where the Commission has granted Legal Representation for actual or potential clinical negligence proceedings. The figures are not necessarily reflective of the number of individuals involved:
Number 1998–99 7,867 1999–2000 7,375 2000–01 7,329 2001–02 7,309 2002–03 6,307 The Commission has figures for the pre-representation legal advice and assistance stage only from April 2001. These are as follows—again the figures are not necessarily reflective of the number of individuals involved:
486W
Number 2000–01 4,550 2001–02 4,903 2002–03 4,554