§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Attorney-General if he will give a breakdown by region of the total amounts paid out in legal aid in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
§ The Attorney-GeneralI assume that my hon. Friend is referring to those parts of the legal aid scheme administered by The Law Society through its legal aid area offices. Payment of legal aid bills by The Law Society is administered centrally and a breakdown of the figures by area offices could not be provided without disproportionate cost. The total gross payments made to solicitors and counsel by The Law Society in each of the last three financial years is as follows:
£ million 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 Civil legal aid 71.3 105.1 115.1 Criminal legal aid (magistrates' courts) 48.1 56.1 62.2 Legal advice and assistance 32.8 40.3 47.3 The net cost of the schemes, taking into account receipts by way of contributions, damages etc. was:
£ million 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 Civil legal aid 42.7 68.0 70.8 Criminal legal aid (magistrates' courts) 46.8 54.9 60.8 Legal advice and assistance 31.7 38.8 45.5
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Attorney-General if he will give a breakdown by region of the total number of complaints about delays in the processing of legal aid applications in each of the last three years.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThis information is not collected.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Attorney-General how many staff are employed in each of the No. 8 and No. 9 regional offices processing applications for legal aid; and what was the total salary bill for such staff in the last year for which figures are available.
§ The Attorney-GeneralI assume that my hon. Friend is referring to the No. 8 (northern) and No. 9 (north eastern) legal aid area offices of the Law Society. The number of staff at present employed in each of those offices dealing with civil legal aid applications is eight (area 8) and 11 (area 9). The cost of the salaries of those staff in financial year 1984–85 is expected to be approximately £79,000 (area 8) and £102,000 (area 9).
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§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Attorney-General if he will give a breakdown by regional office of the average length of time taken to process an application for legal aid.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThis information is readily available only on a national basis. In 1983–84 the average time taken to process an application for civil legal aid was 38 working days.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Attorney-General how many cases of applications for legal aid have been dealt with in the No. 9 and No. 8 regional offices in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
§ The Attorney-GeneralI assume my hon. Friend is referring to The Law Society's number 8 (northern) and number 9 (north-eastern) legal aid area offices. The figures for applications received in those offices for civil legal aid in the past five years are as follows:
Area 8 Area 9 1979–80 15,857 24,545 1980–81 11,568 18,061 1981–82 12,386 18,886 1982–83 13,328 20,499 1983–84 15,074 22,619
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Attorney General if he will give a breakdown by region of the total numbers of applications for legal aid funding which were turned down in the last year for which figures are available.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe number of applications for civil legal aid which were refused by each of The Law Society's area offices in 1983–84 is as follows:
Legal Aid Area Refused on legal grounds Refused on financial grounds No. 1 London (South) 923 467 No. 2 South-Eastern 785 211 No. 3 Southern 732 809 No. 4 South-Western 1,932 690 No. 5 South Wales 486 404 No. 6 West Midland 1,158 505 No. 7 North-Western 1,333 728 No. 8 Northern 1,666 253 No. 9 North-Eastern 2,578 378 No. 10 East Midland 1,283 441 No. 11 Eastern 1,105 387 No. 12 Chester and N. Wales 924 265 No. 13 London (East) 869 397 No. 14 London (West) 839 461 No. 15 Merseyside 1,418 462