Written question asked by Chris Evans (Labour) on Tuesday, 7 June 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 9 June 2011. It was answered by Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative) on Tuesday, 14 June 2011 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Legal Aid

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on legal aid in the Islwyn constituency in 2009-10; and if he will estimate the likely change in the level of expenditure in that area following the implementation of his proposed legal aid reforms.

Answer: The information requested on expenditure in 2009-10 is not readily available and therefore could be provided only at disproportionate cost. For example payments to criminal barristers cannot easily be broken down by the location of the barrister or client.It is not possible to predict with any degree of accuracy future expenditure in any given geographic area, as this will entirely depend on the nature of the cases that arise in future in that area.

Secondary information