§ Rev. Martin SmythTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been paid in legal aid for cases supported by the Equality Commission in the last three years. [171541]
§ Mr. SpellarThe Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI) is not responsible for legal aid but does support a range of discrimination cases of strategic value through its legal and financial resources. ECNI's published Annual Reports and Accounts for 2000–01, 2001–02 and 2002–03 report spearing on legal cases supported by the Commission as:
£ 2000–01 653,890 2001–02 1,046,561 2002–03 2,750,825 As stated in the Audited Accounts, the total for 2002–03 includes a contingent liability of legal fees of £605,000 anticipated over the next three years in respect of 287 closed cases.
§ Rev. Martin SmythTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases the Equality Commission has supported in the last three years, broken down by(a) gender, (b) disability and (c) religion; and how many succeeded. [171542]
§ Mr. SpellarThe information requested is as follows.
Area 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 Gender 141 160 52 Disability 68 112 43 Religion/Political Opinion 142 289 37 Applications Granted Assistance 2000–01 to 2002–03
On the basis of information supplied by the Equality Commission, in the same period the following numbers of cases were either settled or heard and upheld1.
1The year in which applications were granted support and the year when settlements or hearings were completed are unlikely to be the same.
106W
Number of cases 2000–01 108 2001–02 124 2002–03 196
§ Rev. Martin SmythTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases are before the Equality Commission; and how long each has been awaiting a decision. [171543]
§ Mr. SpellarThere are currently 176 applications for assistance being considered by the Equality Commission of which 120 have been received within the past four months and 56, four months or more.
The target processing period is four months and a number of those applications currently requiring longer are dependent on responses from respondents.