§ Lynne JonesTo 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 WintertonAs 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