§ Mrs. PeacockTo ask the Attorney-General whether the Government propose to seek powers in the Legal Aid Bill to remove or alleviate the present effects on the conduct of the financial aspects of divorce cases of the Law Society charge on the former matrimonial home; and if he will make a statement.
§ The Attorney-GeneralPrimary legislation is not necessary to adjust the operation of the legal aid statutory charge. The Government have already announced their intention to amend the regulations governing the statutory charge in legally aided cases to allow the charge to be postponed where a lump sum is awarded to the legally aided person for the purchase of a new home at the end of matrimonial proceedings, and to provide for simple interest to be levied on all postponed charges. These amendments will be introduced as soon as possible. The Government do not intend to make any other changes to the provisions governing the legal aid statutory charge which provides an important discipline to the conduct of litigation under the legal aid scheme.
§ Mr. KnapmanTo ask the Attorney-General what was the total amount of legal aid authorised by Legal Aid Office No. 4 (South-Western Area) in(a) 1980, (b) 1983 and (c) the last available year for which information is available.
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§ The Attorney-GeneralThe payment of civil legal aid bills is administered centrally and the amounts attributable to certificates issued by individual legal aid offices could not be ascertained without incurring disproportionate expense. The information available for the south-western area relates to legal advice and to criminal legal aid, and is as follows:
£ million 1980–81 1983–84 1986–87 Legal Advice 2.034 4.096 6.618 Criminal Legal Aid 2.564 4.043 6.203 Legal advice includes assistance by way of representation and, for 1986–87, advice under the 24-hour duty solicitor scheme. The figures for criminal legal aid cover magistrates' court proceedings only and include, for 1986–87, payments under the magistrates' courts duty solicitor scheme.