Legal Aid Scheme: Contracts
(asked on 17th September 2021) - View Source
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.
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 |