§ Mr. BoatengTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what was the total cost to the legal aid fund of serious cases for each of the last five years.
Mr. John M. TaylorThe information is not readily available. For criminal legal aid in the Crown court and above it is not possible to identify either the prosecution agency or "serious fraud'' offences from information held centrally. However, it is possible to identify payments made in respect of final bills for the most serious types of fraud offences, namely fraud and false accounting, involving more lengthy trials. Expenditure in the higher criminal courts in respect of those offences, involving trials of 10 days or more, in each of the last five years was as follows:
Expenditure £ million As percentage of total criminal higher legal aid 1989–90 5.1 3.8 1990–91 8.9 5.7 1991–92 11.2 6.0 1992–93 20.3 9.2 1993–94 15.8 6.7
§ Mr. BoatengTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what plans he has to make legal aid available, subject to eligibility restrictions, for defamation cases.