Legal Aid Scheme: Immigration

(asked on 23rd March 2017) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) children under 18- years of age and (b) young people aged 18 to 24-years old received legal aid funding for immigration cases in each year since 2009-10.


Answered by
Oliver Heald Portrait
Oliver Heald
This question was answered on 4th April 2017

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2013 was introduced under the Coalition Government and took effect in April 2013. Section 10 of the Act provided for the Exceptional Case Funding scheme, to address those cases which would not ordinarily be eligible for legal aid under the post-LASPO regime, but where an individual’s Convention rights would be breached in the absence of having funded representation.

Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme for immigration matters, by age of applicant, April 2013 to March 2016

FY application received

Under 18

18-24

Apr 2013 - Mar 2014

0

12

Apr 2014 - Mar 2015

14

39

Apr 2015 - Mar 2016

15

59

Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme for immigration matters, which were granted2, by age of applicant, April 2013 to March 2016

FY application received

Under 18

18-24

Apr 2013 - Mar 2014

0

0

Apr 2014 - Mar 2015

4

8

Apr 2015 - Mar 2016

12

40

As the ECF scheme has developed, providers have familiarised themselves with the legislative framework, which has also been clarified by various judgements during this time. This has led to an increase in the volume of successful applications.

The Legal Aid Agency publishes data on an annual basis which shows uptake broken down by age group including children under 18 and young people. Data covering up to and including the financial year 2015/16 is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/533053/legal-aid-statistics-england-and-wales-client-diversity-data.csv. Data covering the following financial year will be published on 30 June 2017.

Legal help/controlled legal representation completed matters and civil representation certificates closed1 for immigration matters, by age of applicant, April 2009 to March 2016

Period

Under 18

18-24

Apr 2009 - Mar 2010

12,187

24,366

Apr 2010 - Mar 2011

13,129

23,586

Apr 2011 - Mar 2012

8,137

15,331

Apr 2012 - Mar 2013

5,175

12,268

Apr 2013 - Mar 2014

4,050

9,883

Apr 2014 - Mar 2015

4,479

8,947

Apr 2015 - Mar 2016

4,876

9,508

1Includes some instances where a proportion of the costs are met by the opponent

The LASPO Act removed some types of immigration cases from the scope of the legal aid scheme, reflecting the decrease in volumes since its inception in April 2013. Matters closed in the periods shown above will not necessarily have commenced in the same period.

Legal help/controlled legal representation completed matters and civil representation certificates closed1 for immigration matters, by age of applicant, April 2009 to March 2016

Period

Under 18

18-24

Unknown

Apr 2009 - Mar 2010

12,187

24,366

2,955

Apr 2010 - Mar 2011

13,129

23,586

1,526

Apr 2011 - Mar 2012

8,137

15,331

1,120

Apr 2012 - Mar 2013

5,175

12,268

1,110

Apr 2013 - Mar 2014

4,050

9,883

1,313

Apr 2014 - Mar 2015

4,479

8,947

1,443

Apr 2015 - Mar 2016

4,876

9,508

1,552

1Includes some instances where a proportion of the costs are met by the opponent

The LASPO Act removed some types of immigration cases from the scope of the legal aid scheme, reflecting the decrease in volumes since its inception in April 2013. Matters closed in the periods shown above will not necessarily have commenced in the same period.

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