HC Deb 07 January 2004 vol 416 cc407-8W
Mr. John Burnett

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the judiciary about the power of Parliament to oust the jurisdiction of the courts in exercising a supervisory or other jurisdiction in relation to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal.[145640]

Mr. Lammy

As part of the policy development process we have spoken to representatives of the senior judiciary and they are aware of the changes we plan to make to the system. As with much policy development, this consultation was undertaken in confidence and so I am not in a position to make the discussions or the outcomes public.

Mr. Russell Brown

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the(a) overall cost per annum and (h) average cost per case was for legal aid for asylum cases in each of the last five years.[145795]

Mr. Lammy

The Legal Services Commission is not able to provide the information in the format requested, as it does not differentiate asylum from wider immigration cases.

The overall costs for immigration and asylum advice, assistance and representation over the last five years in England and Wales are as follows:

Year £million
1998–99 53.3
1999–2000 61.4
2000–01 81.1
2001–02 129.4
2002–03 176.2

The Commission's systems do not record expenditure in such a way as to enable a figure to be provided for the year-on-year, average costs per asylum case.