§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much of the allocated civil aid budget for personal injury cases has been spent on expanding the legal advice and representation budget for other areas of civil legal aid since the coming into force of the Access to Justice Act 1999. [R] [157436]
§ Mr. Lock[holding answer 10 April 2001]: Under the Legal Aid Act 1988 and the Access to Justice Act 1999, expenditure is essentially demand led. With the exception of the new, controlled budget for general civil legal help, funds are not specifically allocated to particular areas of law. However, it has been possible to increase the amount available for advice and assistance since implementation of the Access to Justice Act; in 2000–01 the amount spent on civil advice and assistance (now legal help) totalled £233 million, an increase of £28 million on the previous year. This increase would not have been possible if most personal injury cases remained within the scope of public funding.
§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much civil legal aid was allocated for personal injury cases in(a) 1997–98 and (b) 1998–99. [R] [157435]
§ Mr. Lock[holding answer 10 April 2001]: No funds from the civil legal aid budget were specifically allocated for personal injury cases. However, in terms of expenditure, the latest year for which information is available is 1997–98 (changes to the Legal Services Commission's computer systems mean that information is not yet available for 1998–99 onwards). In that year, the cost of these cases was £307.7 million (gross) of which £242.1 million was recovered by way of contributions received or costs and damages received on behalf of the assisted persons. In addition it is estimated that the cost to the Legal Services Commission of administering these cases was £2.9 million.
§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much was spent on(a) criminal and (b) civil legal aid in (i) 1998–99, (ii) 1999–2000 and (iii) 2000–01; and what the projected figure is for 2001–02. [R] [157429]
§ Mr. Lock[holding answer 10 April 2001]: Gross expenditure, together with the total amounts recovered by way of contributions from assisted persons and from costs 794W and damages received, were, or are expected to be, as set out in the table:
£ million Gross Recovered Criminal Civil Criminal Civil 1998–99 784 1,275 5 430 1999–2000 783 1,190 9 414 2000–011 878 1,218 7 424 2001–022 874 1,034 7 371 1 Estimated 2 Forecast These figures differ from the amounts voted by Parliament which are net of amounts recovered.