§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What has been the total cost of legal aid in the United Kingdom for each of the last 10 years, showing separately expenditure on criminal legal aid and civil legal aid.
§ The Lord Chancellor (Lord Mackay of Clashfern)Net expenditure on criminal and civil legal aid, in each of the last 10 years, was as follows.
£ million Northern Ireland Scotland England & Wales Civil Criminal Civil Criminal Civil Criminal 1986–87 1.3 4.8 14.6 27.3 100.1 180.0 1987–88 1.3 5.3 15.7 25.8 117.1 211.7 1988–89 1.8 7.7 15.3 31.6 132.4 243.7 1989–90 1.9 6.6 14.7 33.6 165.7 282.4 1990–91 3.0 6.5 15.7 39.1 220.0 327.7 1991–92 3.3 7.6 16.6 47.0 330.3 397.0 1992–93 3.7 10.1 24.1 62.2 463.4 417.8 1993–94 3.5 7.1 27.8 2.8 544.0 428.1 1994–95 4.3 10.0 30.2 76.2 602.0 464.4 1995–96 4.5 14.4 32.2 74.4 643.0 498.0
§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What has been the average cost to public funds of the last three years of each case where legal aid has been granted, showing separately criminal and civil cases.
§ The Lord ChancellorAverage payments from legal aid, in criminal and civil cases, in each of the last three years, were as follows:
39WA
1993–1994 1994–1995 1995–1996 Criminal higher £925 £980 £944 Criminal magistrates' £450 £423 £462 civil £1,875 £2,117 £2,369 The number of legal aid bills paid, in each of the last three years, was as follows:
1993–1994 1994–1995 1995–1996 criminal higher 257,116 269,257 304,735 criminal magistrates' 432,270 480,491 460,983 civil 359,188 357,771 372,611
§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
In which individual cases over the last five years has the cost to public funds of legal aid exceeded £500,000, and what is the cost to date in each such case.
§ The Lord ChancellorThe information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether public expenditure under the legal aid schemes is subject to annual cash limits agreed with HM Treasury and if not what reasons there are for not making it subject to such cash limits.
§ The Lord ChancellorPublic expenditure under the legal aid scheme is not at present subject to cash limits. Under the current legislation, it is not possible to control expenditure sufficiently to make this possible. The Government have embarked on a radical reform programme to put in place the controls we need to cash limit legal aid spending. These will include block contracts to procure the majority of legally aided services at a predetermined price and a new test for civil legal aid which will weigh the merits of civil cases against the resources available.
§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Which of the changes to the legal aid system proposed in paragraphs A.1-A.37 of the Government's White Paper Striking the Balance(Cm. 3305) have been implemented.
§ The Lord ChancellorThe White Paper made it clear that reforms would take four to five years to implement in full. We are committed to proceeding carefully and in stages, consulting widely, and whenever possible piloting the changes to make sure this will work. A pilot for block contracts with voluntary advice agencies is already under way. Three further pilots are due to start this year, covering family mediation and advice and assistance by solicitors in civil and criminal matters.