Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much the annual spend by the Legal Aid Agency was on enforcement agents in each of the last five years; how many people the Legal Aid Agency has used enforcement agents against in that same period; and how much money has been recovered through the use of enforcement agents in that same period.

The Legal Aid Agency uses a range of methods to safeguard public money where this is owed under the Regulations which govern the legal aid scheme. Any enforcement activity undertaken is proportionate to the circumstances of the case at hand. As the specific details enquired about would be recorded on individual files, these could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.