§ Mr. Dempseyasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total amount of fees paid to solicitors from the Legal Aid (Scotland) Fund for legal services rendered for each respective year to
Civil Causes Legal Advice and Assistance* Criminal Causes† Children's Scheme‡ Total FEES PAID TO SOLICITORS AND COUNSEL Year ending 31st March 1950–51 … … 1,371 — — — 1,371 1951–52 … … 61,047 — — — 61,047 1952–53 … … 102,583 — — — 102,583 1953–54 … … 143,549 — — — 143,549 1954–55 … … 158,050 — — — 158,050 1955–56 … … 153,500 — — — 153,500 1956–57 … … 152,369 — — — 152,369 1957–58 … … 155,527 — — — 155,527 1958–59 … … 159,279 228 — — 159,507 1959–60 … … 160,669 5,629 — — 166,298 1960–61 … … 193,386 9,412 — — 202,798 1961–62 … … 237,070 11,957 — — 249,027 1962–63 … … 312,069 11,754 — — 323,823 1963–64 … … 334,067 12,497 — — 346,564 1964–65 … … 431,798 11,678 41,721 — 485,197 1965–66 … … 416,427 11,541 242,386 — 670,354
FEES PAID TO SOLICITORS Year ending 31st March 1966–67 … … 432,337 10,788 363,255 — 806,380 1967–68 … … 446,253 10,374 423,677 — 880,304 1968–69 … … 546,254 8,727 427,597 — 982,578 1969–70 … … 603 299 7,304 398,765 — 1,009,368 1970–71 … … 615,266 12,251 426,696 — 1,054,213 1971–72 … … 758,076 17,025 649,828 7,201 1,432,130 1972–73 … … 972,676 15,186 768,668 19,085 1,775,615 1973–74 … … 1,032,779 152,074 908,680 32,013 2,125,546 1974–75 … … 1,284,400 403,950 1,088,889 33,787 2,811,026 * The figures for 1958–59 to 1972–73 represent fees for legal advice under sections 5 and 7 of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1967 which ceased on 31st March 1973. The figures for 1973–74 and 1974–75 represent fees under the Legal Advice and Assistance Scheme (the £25 scheme) made under the Legal Advice and Assistance Act 1972 which came into effect on 1st April 1973. † Statutory legal aid became available for criminal proceedings in October 1964. ‡ The Children's Scheme provides legal aid for court proceedings arising from referrals to children's hearings.