Legal Aid Scheme

(asked on 22nd June 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the funds available to legal aid practitioners with regard to (a) unclaimed costs for completed matters and (b) payments on account.


Answered by
Alex Chalk Portrait
Alex Chalk
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
This question was answered on 30th June 2020

The most recent statistics published for the Legal Aid Agency cover up to and including March 2020. Figures for quarters of the 2020/21 financial year are scheduled for future release, and as such payment data for part (a) of question 62405 cannot yet be provided. The figures for part (b) of the question are displayed below, matching the equivalent period of April, May and June inclusive for each financial year:

Claims for Civil Representation – First Quarter Only

Completed case expenditure (where costs met by LAA)

Payments on account (live cases)

Q1 2017/18

£153,943,450.58

£53,508,814.89

Q1 2018/19

£149,331,830.09

£61,087,711.51

Q1 2019/20

£168,696,887.77

£68,007,236.47

The figure of £100m referred to by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State was based upon estimates produced by the Ministry of Justice relating to unbilled work for completed cases. The breakdown of the estimates is as follows:

  • Criminal Legal Aid in relation to representation in the Crown Court and Higher Courts

- £130m

  • Civil Legal Aid in relation to representation in the civil and family courts

- £80m

All of the above estimates of unbilled work pertain to the position as at 31st March 2020.

As at 31st March 2020, the estimate produced by the Ministry of Justice of the amounts available for legal aid providers to claim in relation to unbilled work on completed matters were –

  • Criminal Legal Aid in relation to representation in the Crown Court and Higher Courts

- £130m

  • Civil Legal Aid in relation to representation in the civil and family courts

- £80m

As at 31st March 2020, the estimate produced by the Ministry of Justice of the amount available for legal aid providers to claim in relation to payment on account for civil matters pertaining to representation in the civil and family courts was £165m.

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