Written question asked by Nick Hawkins (Conservative) on Monday, 19 April 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 29 April 2004. It was answered by David Lammy (Labour) on Thursday, 29 April 2004 on behalf of the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Dept for Constitutional Affairs

Question: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs, what the costs to the Legal Aid Fund on immigration matters were in each financial year since 1996-97. - Including table.

Answer: Mr. Hawkins: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the costs to the Legal Aid Fund on immigration matters were in each financial year since 1996-97. [167180] Mr. Lammy: In the time available, it is not possible to identify separately the cost of immigration from asylum cases. The costs to the Legal Aid Fund on immigration and asylum matters in England and Wales for each financial year since 1996-97 are as follows: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. £ million (net) 1 1996-97 26.1 1997-98 35.2 1998-99 53.3 1999-2000 61.4 2000-01 81.1 2001-02 129.4 2002-03 176.2 2003-04 2204 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Approximately 10 per cent. of the total cost of immigration and asylum matters relates to immigration and nationality cases. 2 Provisional figure, subject to end-of-year adjustments.

Secondary information