§ Sir Brian MawhinneyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (1) pursuant to his oral answers of 2 February 1998,Official Report, columns 703–04, on immigration advisers, how many complaints his Department has made to (a) the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors and (b) the Legal Aid Board in respect of the firms of solicitors whose conduct in immigration cases is of concern to his Department; [34580]
(2) how many complaints his Department has made to (a) the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors and (b)the Legal Aid Board about the conduct of solicitors acting in immigration cases in the past (i) month, (ii) six months and (iii) year; [34534]
564W(3) how many occasions in the past 12 months his Department has asked the Legal Services Ombudsman to examine the way in which the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors dealt with a complaint by his Department about the conduct of a solicitor acting in an immigration case; [34533]
(4) pursuant to his oral answer of 2 February 1998, Official Report, columns 703–04, on immigration advisers, what information his Department has passed to the Law Society about the identity and practices of those particular firms of solicitors whose conduct in immigration cases is of concern to his Department; and on what dates. [34579]
§ Mr. Mike O'Brien[holding answer 16 March 1998]: The Department contacts the Law Society or the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors from time to time when there is evidence that an immigration adviser who is a solicitor has acted in an unprofessional manner, or to check on credentials. Most recently, on 11 March, the Immigration Service wrote to the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors with a list of approximately 50 advisers who are of interest to them, who either are solicitors or have improperly represented themselves as solicitors. The information provided will vary from case to case and no central record has been kept of all such references. It would be inappropriate to publish any details of companies and individuals who may be the subject of current or future investigation.
We contact the Legal Aid Board for clarification or to provide information where there appears to have been an abuse of the Legal Aid scheme.
There is no central record of formal complaints which have been made by or on behalf of the Department to either the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors or the Legal Aid Board, although it appears the number of such referrals is small. I regret that the specific information requested would only be available at disproportionate cost.
I understand there have been no references to the Legal Services Ombudsman in the past 12 months.