News
The number of people who received civil legal aid help rose to its highest level since the Legal Services Commission (LSC) was created in 2000, the LSC’s Annual Report and Accounts 2006–07 shows.
However, the number of contracts held in specific categories of law decreased by 4% overall, from 6,756 as at 31 March 2006 to 6,463 as at 31 March 2007.
New matters started rose from 783,455 in 2005–06 to 851,023 in the last year but funding certificates granted fell from 155,065 in 2005–06 to 151,247 in the last year.
In 2006–07 legal aid service providers delivered nearly 800,000 legal acts of assistance, excluding immigration and asylum, which the LSC says represents a 12.5% increase on 2005–06. Over 2.5 million acts of assistance—including criminal work—were funded overall.
For family legal aid work, fewer bills were paid in 2006–07—129,241 compared to 139,375 in 2005–06. This follows the decline in certificates issued in previous years. Gross payments in this area increased, however, as the result of an 11% increase in the average cost per case. The sharpest increase was in the cost of representing parents and children in care proceedings, up by 20% from £6,425 to £7,691.
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