Legal Aid Scheme
Question
Steve Reed
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the average cost to the Legal Aid Agency of legal help and civil representation in cases for inquests broken down by party involved.
Answer
Damian HindsThe cost to the public purse in terms of average cost of legal aid expenditure in respect of Legal Help and Civil Representation in connection with inquests is set out below.
Financial Year | Legal Help Total Costs | Legal Help Volume | Legal Help Average Cost | Civil Rep Total Costs | Civil Rep Volume | Civil Rep Average Costs |
2013-14 | £301,478 | 88 | £3,426 | £43,010 | 3 | £14,337 |
2014-15 | £452,951 | 90 | £5,033 | £190,872 | 26 | £7,341 |
2015 -16 | £385,843 | 99 | £3,897 | £479,117 | 54 | £8,873 |
2016-17 | £736,115 | 110 | £6,692 | £735,106 | 76 | £9,672 |
2017-18 | £791,600 | 138 | £5,736 | £706,859 | 85 | £8,316 |
2018-19 | £956,199 | 144 | £6,640 | £1,094,962 | 130 | £8,423 |
2019-20 | £2,036,248 | 219 | £9,298 | £1,742,653 | 188 | £9,269 |
2020-21 | £1,317,168 | 182 | £7,237 | £1,179,177 | 154 | £7,657 |
2021-22 | £1,594,679 | 247 | £6,456 | £1,013,111 | 136 | £7,449 |
These figures are based on cases closed in the relevant period and show the data from the introduction of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 to the most recent period for which data is available. Expenditure for 2022-23 is not due for release until later in the year.
Generally, legal aid is not granted to more than one party involved with the inquest. Legal aid is usually only available to family members of the deceased, subject to the relevant eligibility criteria being met.
The LAA’s starting point is that, although legal aid can only be provided to an individual, the provision of services to a family member of the deceased in relation to an inquest fulfils the State’s obligations to the family as a whole. There could be exceptions to this where there is a legal conflict of interest, but not simply because members of the family do not wish to be represented together.