§ Mr. DjanoglyTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what savings have been made since the introduction of individual case contracts for very high cost criminal cases. [185037]
§ Mr. LammyFrom September 2003 the Legal Services Commission (LSC) has been bringing all new eligible cases under contract. Research prior to the introduction of VHCCC contracts suggested that savings of about 30 per cent. might be achieved. The LSC is conducting 373W a survey of non-contracted VHCCC cases in order to establish a benchmark to compare with contracted VHCCC cases. However VHCCC cases are by their nature, long and complex and their attributes vary greatly from case to case. It will therefore be some time before a sufficient number of contracted cases have been completed before sensible comparisons can be made between contract and non-contract cases and before a reliable estimate of the savings can be made. However, the LSC calculates that during 2003–04 savings of around £26.5 million were achieved.
Prior to 2003–04 a pilot scheme was operated. While relatively few contracts were managed during this period the LSC estimates that savings of around £7 million were realised.