Written question asked by Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative) on Monday, 15 November 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 18 November 2004. It was answered by David Lammy (Labour) on Thursday, 18 November 2004 on behalf of the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Dept for Constitutional Affairs

Question: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs, what plans the Department has to reduce the overspend on legal aid for asylum seekers.

Answer: Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans the Department has to reduce the overspend on legal aid for asylum seekers. [199060] Mr. Lammy: The Government introduced a package of measures in April 2004 to control costs and quality in asylum legal aid. These measures are bringing asylum legal aid under effective control and cutting out unnecessary expenditure. Costs are being limited, and targeted at the most deserving cases. Quality representation is being recognised and rewarded by the new accreditation scheme, and wasteful duplication of cases is being tackled. As a result of these measures, and the fall in asylum numbers, we expect that our spending this year will be well within the budget of £149 million (resource).

Secondary information