HC Deb 07 May 2002 vol 385 c72W
Lynne Jones

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will provide a breakdown of the number of(a) solicitors' firms and (b) not-for-profit advice providers holding a Legal Services Commission contract in immigration and the number of matter starts for each such contract in each of the National Asylum Support Service-designated asylum dispersal areas. [54062]

Ms Rosie Winterton

As at 30 April 2002, the Legal Services Commission (LSC) had issued 492 solicitor immigration contracts and 78 not-for-profit agency immigration contracts.

The commission cannot at the present time provide a breakdown of the contract figures by National Asylum Support Service designated asylum dispersal areas. Figures can be provided by the Legal Service Commission regions. The table shows the number of contracts issued, and the contract awards by LSC region. Not-for-profit contractors are awarded 'hours' rather than 'matter starts'.

LSC region Number of solicitor contracts Matter starts allocated Number of Not-for-profit-contracts Number of hours allocated
London 312 103,711 38 68,347
South-east 24 5,864 3 21,340
South-west 13 1,250 4 7,700
Wales 9 2,034 3 4,290
West Midlands 31 9,272 5 15,326
North-west 23 3,652 9 20,364
North-east 14 4,114 1 0
Yorkshire 28 7,628 4 21,450
East Midlands 19 6,738 5 6,186
Eastern 16 3,416 4 3,520
Merseyside 3 1,420 2 4,400
All regions 492 149,099 78 172,923