§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what percentage of the population was eligible for legal aid for each year from 1970 to 1996; and what estimate he has made of the percentage of the population which would be eligible for legal aid in(a) 1997, (b) 1998 and (c) 1999. [1077]
§ Mr. HoonWe have no reliable means of estimating the percentage of the population that is eligible for civil legal aid. Estimates of the percentage of households eligible for civil legal aid are available for each of the following financial years.
Financial year Percentage 1979–80 77 1989–90 68 1990–91 61 1992–93 53 1993–94 48 1994–95 50 1995–96 50 1996–97 48 1997–98 48 Comparable estimates are not available for the other years covered by the question.
There are no formal estimates for future years.
§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the underspend of the legal aid budget in each of the last three years; and what were the factors which were responsible for the underspend. [1079]
§ Mr HoonThe shortfall in legal aid expenditure as against provision, in each of the last three years for which information is available, was as follows: 1993–93: £73 million
1994–95: £107 million
1995–96: £66 million
The underspends resulted from a lower than expected number of bills and higher than expected recovery of costs by the Legal Aid Fund in civil cases.
§ Mr. VazTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to change the membership of the Legal Aid Board. [1055]
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§ Mr. HoonThere are currently two vacancies on the Legal Aid Board which the Lord Chancellor intends to fill in due course.
§ Mr. VazTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the current levels of remuneration for legal aid for(a) barrister and (b) solicitors. [1056]
§ Mr. HoonI am satisfied that remuneration rates for legal aid work for both solicitors and barristers are currently set at a level which attracts a sufficient number of competent practitioners to undertake the work, whilst at the same time ensuring that the cost to public funds is not unreasonable. The present levels were considered earlier this year as part of the annual discussions with the profession on remuneration rates. No changes were made.
§ Mr. GarnierTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much money from the legal aid budget has been provided to new age travellers to
£ Civil Magistrates' Court Crown court Advice and assistance Assistance by way of representation Duty solicitor 1979–80 936 318 n/a 72 — — 1980–81 911 332 n/a 74 234 — 1981–82 1,018 322 n/a 77 251 — 1982–83 1,124 321 n/a 79 260 — 1983–84 1,199 332 n/a 79 272 — 1984–85 1,260 343 497 82 294 131 1985–86 1,315 349 514 83 298 132 1986–87 1,408 379 556 83 309 128 1987–88 1,457 412 599 82 330 126 1988–89 1,587 425 623 80 334 124 1989–90 1,656 449 675 82 348 118 1990–91 1,717 473 713 87 360 114 1991–92 1,788 497 788 92 387 112 1992–93 1,867 491 902 93 472 113 1993–94 1,957 470 965 94 539 111 1994–95 2,171 434 1,005 92 565 113 1995–96 2,369 462 944 96 590 133 Information on Crown court legal aid is not readily available for the period 1979–80 to 1983–84. The Advice By Way of Representation scheme was introduced in 1980–81. The Duty Solicitor Magistrates' Courts Scheme was introduced in 1984–85 and Police Station Scheme in 1985–86.
§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what target he plans to set in respect of the percentage of the population eligible for legal aid. [1078]
§ Mr. HoonIt is not our intention to set a target of this kind for legal aid. Our aim is to ensure that, within the resources available, legal aid is used to best effect.