§ Mr. Ewingasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the average time between an application being made for legal aid in Scotland and the applicant receiving a decision.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellInformation in the form asked for is not readily available; but a recent sample survey of applications for legal aid in the Court of Session showed that, of the successful 311W applications in the sample, 70 per cent. were granted within 12 weeks of the application being made. The average time taken for an application to be granted was between two and three months. This small sample related only to legal aid for proceedings in court: applicants for legal advice under the new scheme introduced in April normally receive an immediate decision on eligibility.