§ Mr. BoatengTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proposals his Department has received for fees for legal work to remain at the levels set in April 1992; and what estimate he has made of the savings that might thereby be achieved.
Mr. John M. TaylorBoth the General Council of the Bar and the Law Society have proposed that the statutory 783W rates for legal aid work in 1993–94 should remain at 1992–93 levels. This proposal formed part of a series of measures put forward by the professions as an alternative to measures to control legal aid expenditure announced by the Lord Chancellor. However, as the Lord Chancellor had not intended to propose an uprating for 1993–94 the professions' proposal would not achieve any savings other than those already considered by the Lord Chancellor.