§ Kate HoeyTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs, whether the Lord Chancellor issues criteria for decisions on the awarding of legal aid in civil cases. [121060]
§ Mr. LammyFunding in civil cases is available through the Community Legal Service, providing the case is within the scope of the scheme and the application meets the standard means and merits tests. The criteria are set by the Lord Chancellor, after consultation with the Legal Services Commission and the legal profession, and are approved by both Houses. The scope of the scheme is set out in Schedule 2 to the Access to Justice Act 1999; the means test is set out in the Community Legal Service (Financial) Regulations 2000 (as amended) and the merits test is contained in the Funding Code. All these documents can be consulted in the Library of this House.
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§ Tony LloydTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs, what assessment the Lord Chancellor has made of the need to review legal aid for personal injury claims where a provider of legal services on a contingent fee basis has gone out of business through insolvency. [121285]
§ Mr. LammyNo assessment has been made. The Access to Justice Act 1999 removed negligently caused personal injury claims from the scope of legal aid. This was done because of the availability of conditional fee agreements (CFAs) and meant that the limited public funds available for legal aid could be better targeted on priority areas of law. CFAs have proved successful as a means of bringing personal injury actions, and this remains the case. The demise of one provider would not prevent people with genuine claims obtaining access to justice. They can do so either by approaching solicitors' firms who deal with such claims or accident intermediaries. The Government believe the personal injury market is able to absorb the loss of individual organisations because there is a strong network of CFA providers.