§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans she has to review the procedures for the application of legal aid with particular reference to the costs and benefits of a likely prosecution in order to avoid the possibility of any later withdrawal of a certificate. [27017]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonWe have no plans to review the cost benefit criteria for public funding in civil cases, to which I understand the question refers. Funding is available subject to satisfying the financial conditions for funding and a funding assessment under the funding code. The funding assessment (or merits test) that has to be passed before funding can be granted already includes an assessment of the case's cost-benefit ratio. That is the applicant's own case; the merits of his or her opponent's case cannot be taken into account. However, it is inevitable that cost-benefit will change in some cases as matters develop, and an applicant's case needs to satisfy the funding assessment at all stages for funding to be retained. It would be impossible to devise a test that 175W prevented funding being lost during the life of a case if merits deteriorated to a point where it was no longer justified.