§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will arrange for the Lord Advocate to make a study of the claims made by a random selection of legal firms in Scotland for visits to prisoners in Barlinnie, Saughton, Perth, Shots and Peterhead prisons, using the legal aid system; and if he will set out the findings against the actual entries made in the official visitors' records of those prisons of lawyers and other personnel from the firms studied.
30W
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 17 May 1989]: No. The administration of legal aid, including the settlement of solicitors' accounts, is the responsibility of the Scottish Legal Aid Board. Claims from solicitors are subject to examination, and the board's audit and investigation section would report any cases of possible fraud to the procurator fiscal. If the hon. Member has information which is relevant to the board's assessment of legal aid accounts, he should pass that to the board for consideration.