§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) how many cases received legal aid in the North West region last year; what was the average length of time taken to bring a case to court; and what was the average cost of each case;
(2) how many legal aid certificates have been issued in the last two years for preliminary work only in the North West region; how many of these led to completed court cases; and how many were incomplete and did not come to court.
Mr. John M. TaylorThe North-West region is served by four legal aid area offices which are situated in Chester, Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The offices at Chester and Newcastle also serve other areas outside of the region. It is not possible to distinguish assisted persons residing in the North-West region from those residing in the other areas covered. In the geographical areas covered by all four offices 112,029 civil legal aid certificates were issued in the financial year 1992–93. According to statistical returns submitted by the courts 70,215 criminal legal aid orders were granted in the North-West region in the calendar year 1992. A further 2,563 criminal legal aid orders were granted by legal aid committees following appeals against magistrates' refusal of legal aid. The average cost of all legal aid bills paid in 1992–93 in England and Wales was as follows:
- Civil legal aid £906
- Criminal Magistrates' £449
- Criminal Higher £840
Information is not available on the length of time taken to bring legally aided cases to court, but the average length of time taken from the granting of a civil legal aid certificate to the conclusion of the case is approximately three years.
Legal aid certificates are not issued in respect of preliminary work only. A certificate may however be limited to specific steps in the proceedings, pending counsel's opinion on the legal merits of the case. The Legal Aid Board's management information does not distinguish limited certificates from full certificates.
During the financial years 1991–92 and 1992–93 a total of 214,655 civil legal aid certificates were issued in the geographical areas covered by the area offices situated at Chester, Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The average duration of a legally aided case is three years and therefore the majority of cases commenced in the last two years will not have reached a conclusion. Out of a total number of 164,038 cases concluded in 1991–92 and 1992–93 in the geographical areas covered 106,962 were settled out of court or otherwise disposed of.
§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps he is742W taking to ensure that solicitors receive adequate recompense for work carried out under the legal aid system where the value of the claim being pursued is for less than £3,000.
Mr. John M. TaylorIt is the Lord Chancellor's aim to ensure that all legal aid remuneration rates give adequate recompense to solicitors who carry out work under the scheme.
§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will ensure that where solicitors are pursuing claims of less than £3,000 with legal aid that the work is not delegated to an unqualified fee earner.
Mr. John M. TaylorIt is the responsibility of each solicitor doing legal aid work to ensure that work is conducted by the appropriate level of fee earner. The Lord Chancellor has no plans to change this.
§ Mr. VazTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the amount spent on the new franchising arrangement for legal aid; how many new posts were created; and what are the costs of the new staffing arrangements of the franchising units.
Mr. John M. TaylorIn the year 1993–94 including recruitment, training and systems development, the new franchising arrangements costs were £3.4 million. Approximately 80 full-time equivalent posts have been created at an annual total employment cost of £2 million.