§ Mr. Kenneth Clarkeasked the Attorney-General (1) whether the level of disregards of income and capital in assessing entitlement to legal aid will be raised in line with the Government's announced raising of disregards for supplementary benefit;
(2) what relationships it is his policy to maintain between the level of disregards of income and capital for entitlement to legal aid and to supplementary benefit; and whether they will be reviewed as part of the same process and at the same time or separately.
The Attorney-GeneralThe Legal Aid Act 1974 provides that the amounts of income disregarded for supplementary benefit shall be applied to the calculation of the resources of an applicant for legal aid. My noble and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor will, therefore, be introducing regulations in due course to increase the amounts of income disregarded for entitlement to legal aid, in the light of the proposed increases in the amounts of income disregarded for supplementary benefit. The regulations will come into effect at about the same time as the relevant supplementary benefits provisions.
The capital limits for legal aid are not linked to those for supplementary benefit but are reviewed from time to time to keep abreast of inflation.