§ Mr. BurnettTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment the Lord Chancellor's Department has made of the effect of the increase in national insurance contributions from April 2003 upon bidding for Community Legal Services contracts. [R][109395]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThe resources presently available to my Department and the Legal Services Commission do not allow for any compensatory increases in relation to the new national insurance (NI) contributions. The additional NI contribution will need to be absorbed by publicly funded suppliers within their existing contractual resources.