§ Mr. Cohenasked the Attorney-General how many applications have been made for legal aid in each of the last five years; how many were granted; and how many refused.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe information requested is as follows:
Civil Legal Aid Applications Financial year Made Approved Refused 1979–80 293,343 213,305 19,647 1980–81 258,099 194,792 19,703 1981–82 266,596 190,558 21,644 1982–83 283,806 203,617 23,072 1983–84 310,585 223,131 24,889
294W
Criminal Legal Aid Applications Year Made Granted Refused 1979 438,052 387,581 50,471 1980 489,663 430,320 59,343 1981 514,462 452,461 62,001 1982 541,215 479,950 61,265 1983 560,462 497,137 63,325 The number of refusals and grants of civil legal aid taken together do not match applications. The discrepancy is caused by applications being withdrawn before they have been considered and because some applications made in one year are not determined until the next. This difference does not arise with criminal legal aid, where statistics are recorded after the application is determined.