§ Dr. StarkeyTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what was the annual cost of legal aid in spousal maintenance cases in each of the last five years. [116707]
§ Mr. LockThe Legal Aid Board does not record separately expenditure on spousal maintenance cases. I am, however, able to provide information on expenditure in respect of all ancillary relief cases, which includes both child maintenance and spousal maintenance:
£ million 1993–94 47.6 1994–95 45.9 1995–96 51.6 1996–97 54.9 1997–98 53.5 The figures provided are derived from closed cases. A case is regarded as closed when all outstanding matters relating to the certificate are completed. They may include payments made in more than one year. Due to changes in the Legal Aid Board's computer systems, we do not have as yet closed case data for 1998–99.