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Lord Chancellors Dept

Answer

Mr. Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proportion of the overall Legal Services Commission's budget was paid to solicitors in each of the last five years in relation to class actions in the field of clinical negligence and personal injury; and what proportion of this amount related to work which could be carried out at less cost. [160246] Mr. Lock: Information in the form requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, the Legal Services Commission, and before it the Legal Aid Board, have taken a number of steps to improve control over the cost of multi-party actions (MPAs). Due to their potential expense, MPAs have been subject to contract control since 1992. An expert panel of solicitors who have experience in handling such litigation was established in 1999, and new arrangements introduced to allow only panel members and any firm already involved in the action to submit a tender for an MPA contract. Now, under the Commission's Funding Code (introduced in April 2000), cases can be put out to competitive tender among the panel members, at or below specified hourly rates. Typically, the successful firm is then awarded a contract, which regulates the remuneration and conduct of the litigation. Specialist Commission staff manage contracted cases, and those residual cases that are not under contract. As directed by the Lord Chancellor, the Commission has set aside a budget for special cases, of which MPAs are one type. This commenced when the Commission's Funding Code came into effect. In 2001-02 this budget is £4.5 million. Under the new scheme, the Commission will fund personal injury MPAs only when the action has a significant wider public interest. Funding by the LSC will generally be concentrated only on the central or generic work on the action, leaving individual claims to be pursued under conditional fee agreements.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

368 c312W; 160246

Session

2000-01

Subjects

Costs Legal aid scheme Health professions Legal Services Commission Personal injury Negligence

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk