HC Deb 21 April 1994 vol 241 cc590-1W
Mr. Boateng

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to publish the report on the first five-yearly review of the work of the Legal Aid Board.

Mr. John M. Taylor

When completed, it is planned that the review will be made publicly available.

Mr. Boateng

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what percentage of the population were eligible for(a) civil and (b) criminal legal aid in (i) 1964–65, (ii) 1979–80, (iii) 1992–93, (iv) 1993–94 and (v) 1994–95.

Mr. John M. Taylor

The Department has no estimate of eligibility in 1964–65. Estimates of the proportion of households eligible for civil legal aid for the other years are:

Year Per cent.
1979–80 77
1992–93 53
1993–94 48
1994–95 47
There is no upper financial limit for criminal legal aid. Anyone whose financial resources are such that he or she requires assistance in meeting the costs which may be incurred is eligible, subject to the interests of justice test and the payment of a contribution where appropriate.

Mr. Boateng

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many representations he has received from(a) hon. Members, (b) peers, (c) other individuals and (d) organisations about the current state of the legal aid system and legal aid eligibility; and what proportion such representations bear to the total number of representations on all subjects.

Mr. John M. Taylor

The information is not available in the form requested. From 1 April 1993 to 31 March 1994, my Department received around 990 letters from hon. Members about all aspects of the legal aid scheme. This is 16 per cent. of correspondence with Members. Over the same period the Department received about 1,000 letters from individuals and organisations about legal aid, about 9 per cent. of all correspondence with the public. These figures do not include representations from major interest groups or from peers, which are not separately logged.

Mr. Boateng

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the names of the consultants appointed to the Legal Aid Board's research project into the delivery of legal services.

Mr. John M. Taylor

The Policy Studies Institute.

Mr. Boateng

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what research his Department has conducted into the impact on access to justice made by the changes to legal aid eligibility and to the green form scheme in April 1993.

Mr. John M. Taylor

We are continuing to monitor the changes, which appear to have had broadly the effect anticipated. The Legal Aid Board will be conducting research into cases where offers of contributory legal aid are made by the board but are not taken up by the applicants and my Department is monitoring the incidence in the courts of unrepresented litigants in civil cases.