Written question asked by Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord McNally (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 26 October 2010.

Refugee and Migrant Justice

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to draft data disclosed by the Legal Services Commission to Refugee and Migrant Justice showing the number of asylum and immigration suppliers working in breach of the fixed fee margin key performance indicator, what was the total payment, excluding disbursements, for asylum cases paid by graduated fixed fee, made by the Commission to the group of suppliers in breach of the fixed fee margin KPI for their asylum work in the financial year 2009–10.

Answer: The 64 providers that were in breach of the fixed fee margin (FFM) KPI for asylum cases in 2009-10 were paid £3.01 million (less disbursements and VAT). £14.88 million was paid in 2009-10 (less disbursements and VAT) in graduated fees for asylum cases. The 54 providers that were in breach of the FFM KPI for immigration cases in 2009-10 were paid £3.97 million (less disbursements and VAT). £13.70 million was paid in 2009-10 (less disbursements and VAT) in graduated fees for immigration cases. 12,461 matter starts were allocated to the 64 asylum providers that were in breach of the FFM KPI for asylum cases in 2009-10. This number would not have wholly or even substantially been used for graduated fee matters and could have been used for hourly rate matters as well. 14,242 matter starts were allocated to the 54 immigration providers that were in breach of the FFM KPI for asylum cases in 2009-10. This number would not have wholly or even substantially been used for graduated fee matters and could have been used for hourly rate matters as well.

Secondary information