§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, how much funding the Community Legal Service has received in each year it has been in existence; and what(a) amount and (b) percentage of this has been given directly to advice-providing organisations in the form of grants to help them improve and develop their services. [18844]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonIn 2000–01, £810 million was made available to the Legal Services Commission to fund the Community Legal Service (CLS). In that year £1.5 million, or 0.2 per cent., was given directly to a range of organisations in the form of grants.
In 2001–02, £708 million has been made available to fund the CLS, of which approximately £3.94 million, or 0.6 per cent., has been committed to projects in grant funding.
On 8 May 2001 the Partnership Innovation Budget was set up with a budget of £15 million over three years (0.7 per cent. of total expected funding of £2,105 million). Bids were invited for initiatives intended to improve the delivery of legal services in innovative ways, and the first set of grant awards was announced in September 2001. To date, over £12 million in grants has been committed.