§ Lord Spensasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the budget for 1994–95 for (a) criminal legal aid and (b) civil aid expenditure is likely to be underspent or exceeded in the current year and by how much.
§ The Lord ChancellorIt is estimated that net expenditure on legal aid in England and Wales will be £1.311 billion in 1994–95 (£95 million below provision). Of that, the net cost of criminal legal aid will be £476 million (£15 million below provision) and the net cost of civil legal aid will be £604 million (£41 million below provision).
§ Lord Spensasked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the number of individuals in receipt of (a) criminal legal aid and (b) civil legal aid in each of the last 10 years.
§ The Lord ChancellorThe number of acts of assistance in respect to criminal legal aid and civil legal aid in each of the last 10 years was as follows:
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Criminal Higher2 Criminal Magistrates3 Civil1 1984–85 128,865 334,134 222,559 1985–86 141,149 371,452 232,813 1986–87 136,978 356,736 245,930 1987–88 145,386 405,088 245,698 1988–89 142,651 412,424 237,417 1989–90 149,629 435,471 259,465 1990–91 140,614 440,534 297,555 1991–92 137,175 477,170 353,513 1992–93 124,240 439,548 419,832 1993–94 116,477 432,270 376,893 1 Number of certificates issued 2 Number of defendants and appellants represented 3 Number of bills paid
§ Lord Spensasked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the extent and value of recoveries made from individual recipients of (a) criminal and (b) civil legal aid in each of the last ten years.
Criminal legal aid Receipts £'000 Criminal legal aid Gross payments £'000 (recoveries as % of expenditure) Civil legal aid Receipts £'000 Civil legal aid Gross payments £'000 (recoveries as % of expenditure) Contributions 1,712 — 10,406 — Costs 88 — 31,685 — Damages and other monies recovered — — 28,139 — Miscellaneous — — 59 — Total 1984/85 1,800 136,094 (1%) 70,289 151,344 (46%) Contributions 1,883 — 11,206 — Costs 75 — 34,443 — Damages and other monies recovered — — 33,142 — Miscellaneous — — 65 — Total 1985/86 1,761 156,643 (1%) 78,856 174,000 (45%) Contributions 1,956 — 11,857 — Costs 102 — 39,311 — Damages and other monies recovered — — 42,335 — Miscellaneous — — 72 — Total 1986/87 2,061 178,897 (1%) 93,575 193,726 (48%) Contributions 2,647 — 14,581 — Costs 19 — 45,041 — Damages and other monies recovered — — 49,727 — Miscellaneous — — 75 — Total 1987/88 2,666 214,107 (1%) 109,424 220,109 (50%) Contributions 2,801 — 16,021 — Costs 22 — 55,537 — Damages and other monies recovered — — 58,734 — Miscellaneous — — 65 — Total 1988/89 2,823 246,683 (1%) 128,357 260,721 (49%) Contributions 3,398 — 17,885 — Costs 2 — 67,912 — Damages and other monies recovered — — 58,693 — Miscellaneous — — 71 — Total 1989/90 3,400 286,624 (1%) 142,561 308,289 (46%) Contributions 4,237 — 18,570 — Costs 18 — 76,803 — Damages and other monies recovered — — 64,880 — Miscellaneous — — 200 — Total 1990/91 4,255 332,712 (1%) 160,453 379,995 (42%) Contributions 3,022 — 19,297 — Costs 11 — 95,669 — Damages and other monies recovered — — 67,402 — Miscellaneous — — 628 — Total 1991/92 3,033 399,499 (1%) 182,998 513,246 (36%) Contributions 4,526 — 20,936 — Costs 4 — 131,117 — Damages and other monies recovered — — 70,057 — Miscellaneous — — 1,441 — Total 1992/93 4,532 422,589 (1%) 223,623 686,927 (33%) Contributions 3,809 — 23,424 — Costs 2 — 179,542 — Damages and other monies recovered — — 79,329 — Miscellaneous — — 1,803 — Total 1993/94 3,811 431,737 (1%) 264,096 827,965 (34%) Note: "Criminal legal aid" represents legal aid in the magistrates' and higher courts. The above table does not include legal aid advice and assistance (ie the Green Form, Assistance by way of representation and Duty solicitor schemes).
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§ The Lord ChancellorA comparison between receipts from legally aided cases in England and Wales and gross payments, covering the last 10 years and broken down between criminal and civil legal aid, is provided in the table below.