Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of calls to the Courts Service were requests for information on claimant data in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many criminal legal aid firms have been added to the Legal Aid Agency’s list of providers willing to accept instructions for advocacy services at different locations since 11 April 2022; and what data his Department holds on number of trials in the Crown Court that have been adjourned or postponed due to the unavailability of a defence advocate.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
At the point the Crown Court Representation Helpline was launched on 20 April, there were 19 contacts registered. The helpline does not require higher court advocates to be registered individually. Therefore, some of the registered contacts may have multiple higher court advocates available to provide advocacy services in the Crown Court. The number of registered contacts is subject to fluctuation.
The Crown Court Representation Helpline is in place to make the process of identifying higher court advocates easier for providers who may be impacted by barristers declining to accept returns in defence cases as part of national Criminal Bar Association disruptive action. Providers are not limited to instructing higher court advocates registered with the helpline. The Public Defender Service may also be able to provide advocacy support where cases have been impacted by the no returns action.
The Department publishes data on volumes and the reasons why trials do not go ahead as part of the Criminal court statistics quarterly. The latest statistics cover the period October to December 2021. In line with the timetable for the publication of official statistics into the public domain we are unable to provide data for more recent months at this time.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many legal aid (a) providers and (b) offices were practising in cases of (a) claims against public authorities, (b) community care, (c) discrimination, (d) education, (e) housing and debt, (f) immigration and asylum, (g) family law, (h) clinical negligence, (i) mental health, (j) public law, (k) welfare benefits in each year from September 2012 to September 2021.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Legal Aid Agency frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision around the country and moves quickly to ensure provision where gaps may appear.
Operational system data on the volume of providers holding legal aid contracts at any given time is subject to change due to the internal management and updating of contract schedules, which may impact both real time and historic data.
Civil legal aid providers (firms) and offices in each year, broken down by category of law enquired about, from 2012 to most recent quarter:
Volume of Providers (firms) | ||||||||||||
Category of Law | Apr-12 | Sep-12 | Apr-13 | Apr-14 | Apr-15 | Apr-16 | Apr-17 | Apr-18 | Apr-19 | Apr-20 | Apr-21 | Sep-21 |
Claims Against the Public Authorities | 63 | 62 | 58 | 54 | 53 | 65 | 65 | 64 | 80 | 74 | 71 | 70 |
Community Care | 85 | 84 | 83 | 71 | 91 | 87 | 81 | 76 | 94 | 88 | 83 | 82 |
Discrimination | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 18 | 17 |
Education | 24 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 13 | 10 |
Housing and Debt | 346 | 332 | 368 | 345 | 323 | 305 | 286 | 254 | 295 | 265 | 245 | 238 |
Immigration Asylum | 197 | 194 | 239 | 226 | 199 | 182 | 166 | 141 | 203 | 189 | 176 | 172 |
Immigration Other* | 198 | 195 |
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Family | 1,557 | 1,507 | 1,352 | 1,269 | 1,211 | 1,160 | 1,090 | 1,003 | 1,029 | 992 | 959 | 937 |
Clinical Negligence | 169 | 166 | 166 | 156 | 142 | 107 | 106 | 100 | 100 | 99 | 95 | 93 |
Mental Health | 172 | 171 | 168 | 160 | 176 | 169 | 158 | 147 | 156 | 147 | 135 | 135 |
Public Law | 87 | 85 | 83 | 79 | 74 | 92 | 89 | 84 | 110 | 99 | 95 | 95 |
Welfare Benefits | 286 | 274 | 0 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 52 | 41 | 38 | 36 |
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Volume of Offices | ||||||||||||
Category of Law | Apr-12 | Sep-12 | Apr-13 | Apr-14 | Apr-15 | Apr-16 | Apr-17 | Apr-18 | Apr-19 | Apr-20 | Apr-21 | Sep-21 |
Claims Against the Public Authorities | 83 | 82 | 79 | 74 | 72 | 80 | 80 | 78 | 119 | 112 | 104 | 101 |
Community Care | 140 | 139 | 131 | 115 | 163 | 142 | 136 | 124 | 146 | 137 | 129 | 127 |
Discrimination | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 22 | 21 |
Education | 28 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 22 | 19 |
Housing and Debt | 537 | 524 | 710 | 652 | 606 | 560 | 525 | 475 | 480 | 436 | 407 | 397 |
Immigration Asylum | 228 | 224 | 405 | 376 | 323 | 285 | 262 | 229 | 303 | 281 | 263 | 257 |
Immigration Other* | 229 | 225 |
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Family | 2,328 | 2,273 | 2,254 | 2,134 | 2,001 | 1,890 | 1,732 | 1,616 | 1,713 | 1,654 | 1,575 | 1,537 |
Clinical Negligence | 291 | 285 | 285 | 267 | 248 | 196 | 191 | 180 | 175 | 170 | 164 | 159 |
Mental Health | 193 | 192 | 189 | 179 | 200 | 189 | 173 | 161 | 181 | 172 | 159 | 157 |
Public Law | 111 | 108 | 107 | 101 | 95 | 111 | 108 | 102 | 155 | 141 | 130 | 130 |
Welfare Benefits | 364 | 353 | 0 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 50 | 39 | 36 | 34 |
*ceased as separate category
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) providers and (b) offices in criminal legal aid there were from September 2012 to September 2021.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
There are currently 1,080 Providers who hold a Criminal Legal Aid Contract. There are currently 1,401 Providers who hold a Civil Legal Aid Contract. This data is correct as at 17th September 2021. Please note for the figures provided that firms may have more than one office.
The Legal Aid Agency frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision around the country and moves quickly to ensure provision where gaps may appear.
Operational system data on the volume of providers holding legal aid contracts at any given time is subject to change due to the internal management and updating of contract schedules, which may impact both real time and historic data.
Criminal legal aid providers (firms) and offices in each year, from September 2012 to September 2021:
| Apr-12 | Sep-12 | Apr-13 | Apr-14 | Apr-15 | Apr-16 | Apr-17 | Apr-18 | Apr-19 | Apr-20 | Apr-21 | Sep-21 |
Firms | 1,652 | 1621 | 1,595 | 1,513 | 1,425 | 1,386 | 1,310 | 1,266 | 1,194 | 1,154 | 1,090 | 1,080 |
Offices | 2,318 | 2292 | 2,258 | 2,142 | 2,040 | 1,969 | 1,981 | 1,913 | 1,802 | 1,717 | 1,589 | 1,565 |
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many firms of solicitors held a (a) civil and (b) criminal legal aid contract as of 1 September 2021.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
There are currently 1,080 Providers who hold a Criminal Legal Aid Contract. There are currently 1,401 Providers who hold a Civil Legal Aid Contract. This data is correct as at 17th September 2021. Please note for the figures provided that firms may have more than one office.
The Legal Aid Agency frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision around the country and moves quickly to ensure provision where gaps may appear.
Operational system data on the volume of providers holding legal aid contracts at any given time is subject to change due to the internal management and updating of contract schedules, which may impact both real time and historic data.
Criminal legal aid providers (firms) and offices in each year, from September 2012 to September 2021:
| Apr-12 | Sep-12 | Apr-13 | Apr-14 | Apr-15 | Apr-16 | Apr-17 | Apr-18 | Apr-19 | Apr-20 | Apr-21 | Sep-21 |
Firms | 1,652 | 1621 | 1,595 | 1,513 | 1,425 | 1,386 | 1,310 | 1,266 | 1,194 | 1,154 | 1,090 | 1,080 |
Offices | 2,318 | 2292 | 2,258 | 2,142 | 2,040 | 1,969 | 1,981 | 1,913 | 1,802 | 1,717 | 1,589 | 1,565 |
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many firms of solicitors held a (a) civil and (b) criminal legal aid contract as of 1 April 2021.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Please note for the figures provided that firms may have more than one office. There are currently 1,090 Providers who hold a Criminal Legal Aid Contract. There are currently 1,439 Providers who hold a Civil Legal Aid Contract. This data is correct as at 7th April 2021.
The Legal Aid Agency frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision around the country and moves quickly to ensure provision where gaps may appear.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many firms of solicitors held a (a) civil and (b) criminal legal aid contract on (i) 1 March 2021 and (ii) 1 March 2020.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Please note for the figures provided, firms may have more than one office. There are currently 1,104 firms who hold a Criminal Legal Aid Contract. There are currently 1,445 firms who hold a Civil Legal Aid Contract. This data is correct as at 8 March 2021.
As at March 2020 there were 1,150 firms holding a Criminal Legal Aid Contract, and 1,500 firms holding a Civil Legal Aid Contract.
The Legal Aid Agency frequently reviews market capacity to ensure there is adequate provision around the country and moves quickly to ensure provision where gaps may appear.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish a list of (a) criminal legal aid providers and (b) civil legal aid providers as of March 2020.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
A list of current contracted legal aid providers is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/directory-of-legal-aid-providers.
As at March 2020, there were 1,500 firms who held a civil legal aid contract, and 1,150 who held a criminal legal aid contract.
The details of those providers are attached.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many firms of solicitors held a (a) civil and (b) criminal legal aid contract as at 1 February 2021.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Please note for the figures provided that some firms may have more than one office. There are currently 1,109 firms who hold a Criminal Legal Aid Contract. There are currently 1,447 firms who hold a Civil Legal Aid Contract. This data is correct as at 1 February 2021.
The Legal Aid Agency frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision around the country and moves quickly to ensure provision where gaps may appear.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hardship payments have been claimed by legal aid providers to date; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of those payments in supporting advocates.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Between 1 May 2020 to 8 January 2021, a total of 2,343 hardship claims were received, which includes those made by both litigators and advocates. The LAA made payment in respect of over 99% of these claims. In light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the MoJ brought in Regulation changes which substantially lowered the thresholds at which a hardship claim can be submitted.
The LAA keeps the criminal legal aid market under constant review. We have contacted all providers where the majority of their income from publicly funded work is dependent upon the Crown Court. The small minority that reported that they had financial concerns are being monitored on a regular basis.
The long-term sustainability of the criminal legal aid market will be the focus of an independent review, to launch in January 2021. This is the latest step in the Criminal Legal Aid Review, which has already led to up to £51m per year in new payments for the sector that was announced in the summer. It forms part of wider work to ensure criminal defence remains an enduringly attractive career for practitioners.
In addition to the support schemes offered by the government, the LAA has introduced a number of measures to allow providers to be paid more quickly. All of the measures taken by the LAA are set out on our gov.uk page: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-legal-aid-agency-contingency-response#financial-relief-page.
Across the LAA’s civil funding schemes, namely family mediation, legal help, controlled legal representation, and civil representation, there were 277,829 live cases unbilled as at the 30 September 2020, which is the latest period for which these figures are available. The LAA statistics compiled and published on a quarterly basis, as yet the December 2020 figures are not yet finalised.
The LAA is unable to provide volumes on unbilled criminal legal aid work within the costs limit. This is because our systems do not have a ‘final bill indicator’ that would enable automated searches meaning we would be required to conduct case by case searches. Therefore, the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.