§ Mr. GarnierTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much has been paid to the Community Law Partnership of Birmingham by the Legal Services Commission and the Legal Aid Board in each of the last five accounting years for which figures are available; how many cases there were; what proportion of the sum in each year was paid to the Community Law Partnership for cases brought by or against(a) travellers or traveller families and (b)local and public authorities, broken down by authority; how many cases there were in each year; and how many of the cases funded in each year resulted in (i) a satisfied order for costs being made in favour of the client represented by the Community Law Partnership and (ii) an irrecoverable financial loss to the Legal Aid Board or the Legal Services Commission. [156529]
732W
§ Mr. LammyThe Community Law Partnership of Birmingham registered with the then Legal Aid Board in December 1998. Total payments made to the organisation for each full financial year since 1999–2000 were as follows.
£ 1999–2000 233,059 2000–01 432,229 2001–02 412,452 2002–03 802,849 The number of Legal Help matters started by the Community Law Partnership of Birmingham since 2000–01, the first full year of the Legal Services Commission's contracting system, were as follows:
Number 2000–01 1,340 2001–02 932 2002–03 929 Certificates issued to the Community Law Partnership:
Number 1998–99 49 1999–2000 252 2000–01 264 2001–02 326 2002–03 331 2003–04 (to 31 December 2003) 248 Total (1998 to December 2004) 1,470 For Legal Help cases, the Legal Services Commission does not record any client details which identify the client's background, or any information on the identity of whom the case was brought against.
For the number of cases funded in each year which resulted in (i) a satisfied order for costs being made in favour of the client represented by the Community Law Partnership and (ii) an irrecoverable financial loss to the Legal Aid Board or the Legal Services Commission please refer to the following table.
Cases settled at no cost to the Fund
Cases closed with no recovery of costs or
damages
Number Face value (£)
Number Net cost (£)
1998–99 0 — 1 2,400 1999–2000 27 108,300 73 65,300 2000–01 57 210.000 147 195,500 2001–02 60 237,300 152 227,500 2002–03 48 222,500 170 280,700 2003–04 (to December 2004) 49 218,200 159 296,700 Total (1998 December 2004) 241 996,300 702 1,068,100
§ Ian LucasTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the average 733W cost is per case for magistrates courts criminal cases in England and Wales of payments under the legal aid scheme to solicitors in private practice. [156756]
§ Mr. LammyI refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave to his question on 12 February 2004,Official Report, column 1671W