§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
By what amount they estimate that the "radical reform programme" of the legal aid system (Written answer to Lord Marlesford, 13 March 1997), which they have now embarked upon, will reduce the costs of legal aid in each of the next five years.
§ The Lord ChancellorThe reforms set out in the White Paper will take four to five years to implement in full. But once they are completed the Government will be able to decide in advance how much to spend on legal aid. Until then, a substantial (but decreasing) proportion of the budget will remain demand-led. Meanwhile, however, the Government are introducing a number of measures to restrain growth in the short term.
The cost of legal aid increased by just under 15 per cent. in the last three years. Forecast expenditure over the next three years is £1,561/1,602/1,518 million. This represents an increase of 3.2 per cent. in 1997–98 and 2.5 per cent. in 1998–99. However, legal aid expenditure is set to fall back in 1999–2000 by 5 per cent., to a figure just 0.4 per cent. higher than this year's. This reflects the Government's determination to bring legal aid spending under control, and the impact of sustained tough action and the implementation of the wider reform agenda.
§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What proportion of the total annual revenue of the legal profession has come from legal aid in each of the last five years.
§ The Lord ChancellorThe information sought is not collected by Her Majesty's Government. However, the table below sets out the required information for solicitors for the five-year period 1990–1995. These are the latest figures available, and are taken from the Annual Statistical Reports published by the Law 89WA Society. Comparable information for barristers is not produced.
Year Proportion of solicitors' gross fee income derived from legal aid 1990–91 9.9% 1991–92 11.8% 1992–93 13.3% 1993–94 14.5% 1994–95 14.9%
§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the June 1996 White Paper on legal aid, Striking the Balance (Cm 3305), did not consider the justification for, and the affordability of, providing non-British citizens with legal aid from public funds to pursue civil non-family cases, and what view they now take of this question.
§ The Lord ChancellorThe general issue of legal aid for foreign nationals was addressed in the December 1994 consultation paper,Legal Aid for the Apparently Wealthy. The overwhelming weight of the responses supported the view expressed in the consultation paper that it would not be right to impose nationality restrictions on the availability of either criminal or civil legal aid.
Last year's White Paper raised a narrower question in the context of targeting legal aid on the most deserving civil cases. Paragraph 2.17 of the White Paper said: "We also intend to consult widely about possible … criteria. This would allow us to take account of particular concerns, for example about people who use the courts here simply to take advantage of our legal aid system."