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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 30 March 1994
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Legal Aid
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) how many cases received legal aid in the North West region last year ; what was the average length of time taken to bring a case to court ; and what was the average cost of each case ;
(2) how many legal aid certificates have been issued in the last two years for preliminary work only in the North West region ; how many of these led to completed court cases ; and how many were incomplete and did not come to court.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The North-West region is served by four legal aid area offices which are situated in Chester, Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The offices at Chester and Newcastle also serve other areas outside of the region. It is not possible to distinguish assisted persons residing in the North-West region from those residing in the other areas covered. In the geographical areas covered by all four offices 112,029 civil legal aid certificates were issued in the financial year 1992 -93. According to statistical returns submitted by the courts 70,215 criminal legal aid orders were granted in the North-West region in the calendar year 1992. A further 2,563 criminal legal aid orders were granted by legal aid committees following appeals against magistrates' refusal of legal aid. The average cost of all legal aid bills paid in 1992-93 in England and Wales was as follows :
Civil legal aid £906
Criminal Magistrates' £449
Criminal Higher £840
Information is not available on the length of time taken to bring legally aided cases to court, but the average length of time taken from the granting of a civil legal aid certificate to the conclusion of the case is approximately three years.
Legal aid certificates are not issued in respect of preliminary work only. A certificate may however be limited to specific steps in the proceedings, pending counsel's opinion on the legal merits of the case. The Legal Aid Board's management information does not distinguish limited certificates from full certificates.
During the financial years 1991-92 and 1992-93 a total of 214,655 civil legal aid certificates were issued in the geographical areas covered by the area offices situated at Chester, Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle-upon- Tyne. The average duration of a legally aided case is three years and therefore the majority of cases commenced in the last two years will not have reached a conclusion. Out of a total number of 164,038 cases concluded in 1991-92 and 1992-93 in the geographical areas covered 106,962 were settled out of court or otherwise disposed of.
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps he is
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taking to ensure that solicitors receive adequate recompense for work carried out under the legal aid system where the value of the claim being pursued is for less than £3,000.Mr. John M. Taylor : It is the Lord Chancellor's aim to ensure that all legal aid remuneration rates give adequate recompense to solicitors who carry out work under the scheme.
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will ensure that where solicitors are pursuing claims of less than £3,000 with legal aid that the work is not delegated to an unqualified fee earner.
Mr. John M. Taylor : It is the responsibility of each solicitor doing legal aid work to ensure that work is conducted by the appropriate level of fee earner. The Lord Chancellor has no plans to change this.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the amount spent on the new franchising arrangement for legal aid ; how many new posts were created ; and what are the costs of the new staffing arrangements of the franchising units.
Mr. John M. Taylor : In the year 1993-94 including recruitment, training and systems development, the new franchising arrangements costs were £3.4 million. Approximately 80 full-time equivalent posts have been created at an annual total employment cost of £2 million.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Janner : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many, and what percentage of officers in each of grades, 1 to 7 and overall, in his Department are (a) women, (b) from ethnic minorities and (c) disabled, respectively.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The number and percentage of officers in each of grades 1 to 7 and overall who are (a) women is set out in table 1. Information on the ethnic origin of officers and on numbers of disabled officers is obtained by the use of voluntary staff surveys. The number and percentage of respondents in each of grades 1 to 7 and overall who are (b) from ethnic minorities and (c) disabled, respectively, are set out in tables 2 and 3.
Table 1 Number and percentage of officers in grades 1-7 and overall who are women as at 25 March 1994 Grade |Number |Percentage -------------------------------------------- 1 |0 |0.0 2 |0 |0.0 3 |1 |9.1 4 |0 |0.0 5 |6 |17.6 6 |19 |21.1 7 |79 |37.2 Overall |7,922 |63.2 Note to table: The grades shown are for grade levels i.e. they include equivalent grades.
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Table 2
Number and respondents of officers in
grades 1-7 and overall who are
ethnic minorities as at 25 March 1994
Grade |Number |Percentage
--------------------------------------------
1 |0 |0.0
2 |0 |0.0
3 |0 |0.0
4 |0 |0.0
5 |0 |0.0
6 |* |2.4
7 |* |2.2
|-- |--
Overall |916 |8.1
Notes to table:
(1) The grades shown are for grade levels
ie they include equivalent grades
(2) Information on ethnic origin is
collected by the use of a voluntary survey
of all staff. To date 10 per cent. of staff
have chosen not to respond to the survey.
The figures quoted in the table are
therefore based on the number of
respondents.
(3) The asterisks denote numbers that were
so small as to enable identification of
individuals, and are used to protect the
privacy of those concerned.
Table 3
Number and Respondents of Officers in
Grades 1-7 and Overall who
have a Disability as at 25 March 1994
Grade |Number |Percentage
--------------------------------------------
1 |0 |0.0
2 |0 |0.0
3 |0 |0.0
4 |0 |0.0
5 |0 |0.0
6 |* |2.5
7 |* |2.8
|-- |--
Overall |446 |4.6
Notes to Table:
(1) The grades shown are for grade levels
i.e. they include equivalent grades.
(2) Information on disability is collected
by the use of a voluntary survey of all
staff. To date 23 per cent. of staff have
chosen not to respond to the survey. The
figures quoted in the above table are
therefore based on the number of
respondents.
(3) The asterisks denote numbers that were
so small as to enable identification of
individuals, and are used to protect the
privacy of those concerned.
Public Appointments
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what percentage of public appointments made by his Department in 1993 were of (a) Asians and (b) black people ; and if he will list their names.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The figures for public appointments made by the Lord Chancellor's Department and the Northern Ireland Court Service in 1993 are for (a) Asians 1.5 per cent. and for (b) black people 1 per cent. This answer does not include judicial appointments. It is not our practice to give names : when asking appointees for information on their ethnic origin it is our practice to make it clear that it will be used only for statistical purposes.
Building Projects
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what major building projects valued at over £1 million are being or have been wholly or partly financed since 1989 in (a) Doncaster, (b)
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Barnsley, (c) Rotherham and (d) Wakefield by his Department ; and what was the cost of each project to his Department.Mr. John M. Taylor : (a) In Doncaster, the Lord Chancellor's Department comissioned a new Crown court building which became ready for use in the third quarter of 1989. The final total cost of the scheme was £5 million--inclusive of site purchase costs, construction and design costs. An extension to the magistrates court is now currently being designed. It is estimated to cost £2.6 million and construction is likely to begin during 1995-96.
(a) There are no plans at present for a new court building scheme in Barnsley.
(c) In Rotherham the construction of a new ten courtroom magistrates court building commenced in February 1992 and is now in the final stage, and is due to become operational in early May. The full cost is likely to be £5.4 million.
(d) In Wakefield there are proposals to build a new magistrates court to contain six courts. If approved, construction could commence in 1997-98 and the estimated cost would be approximately £7.8 million.
Proton Cars
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many Proton cars were purchased by his Department in each of the last 10 years for which information is available ; and at what cost.
Race Awareness Training
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what measures the Lord Chancellor has taken to ensure that (a) High Court judges and (b) circuit judges receive training in race awareness ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John M. Taylor : Training for members of the judiciary is a matter for the Judicial Studies Board. I can tell the hon. Member that the board includes race awareness as a standard topic in all its refresher and induction seminars attended by High Court judges and circuit judges. In addition, the board is developing a programme of seminars on these issues for all circuit judges, recorders and assistant recorders in England and Wales to be carried forward over the next two years.
Official Entertainment
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the total cost of official entertainment in the Lord Chancellor's Department in each year since 1990-91 ; if he will list the receptions held in each year at his Department's expense ; and what was the cost of each reception.
Mr. John M. Taylor : Three principal receptions are funded each year by the Department : the Lord Chancellor's breakfast at the commencement of the legal year, a summer reception given by the Lord Chancellor for members of the media and--since 1992-93--a reception in the Inner Temple given by the Lord Chief Justice. The costs of these events, and the total costs of official entertaining each year since 1990-91, are given in the table.
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While other individual receptions may have been held, the cost of identifying them and their related expenditure would be disproportionate.Column 745