§ Mrs. Ewingasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will estimate the saving to public funds of legal aid for litigants in undefended divorces in Scotland of enabling them to present their cases in the sheriff court.
§ Mr. RossIt is not possible to make a precise estimate, but, on the assumptions suggested in paragraph 106 of the Report of the Committee on the Sheriff Court (Cmnd. 3248), the saving to the legal aid fund might be about £130,000. This takes no account of other costs which the additional work in the sheriff courts would entail.