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Written question asked by Michael McCann (Labour) on Wednesday, 4 June 2014, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 9 June 2014. It was answered by Shailesh Vara (Conservative) on Wednesday, 11 June 2014 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Legal Aid Scheme

Question

(4) how many cases against the Department for Work and Pensions were funded by legal aid in each of the last 10 years;

Mr McCann:

Answer

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) cannot separately identify legal aid cases against the Department for Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office. Opponents are not systematically recorded against Legal Aid cases.

The net payments to Public Interest Lawyers over the past 10 years were:

Financial year
 Net Payments (£)
2003-04
 139,620.72
2004-05
 158,282.52
2005-06
 251,844.27
2006-07
 299,667.99
2007-08
 577,263.60
2008-09
 628,527.75
2009-10
 267,433.88
2010-11
 439,268.02
2011-12
 331,238.85
2012-13
 50,633.27

These payments cover all work undertaken by the firm under legal aid. The payments made will be offset by recoupment on successful cases where the opponent has paid the costs.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
198672; 582 cc197-8W
Session
2014-15
Subjects
Department for Work and Pensions Legal aid scheme
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk