| THE COST OF CRIMINAL LEGAL AID
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C&AG's Report, para 1.1; Qualification Report, para 1
Qs 13, 14 and Evidence, Appendix 1, pp 22-23
| 41. Criminal legal aid expenditure in 1995-96 of £502 million represented an increase of 51 per cent over the previous five years. Over the same period the number of people assisted rose by less than one per cent. The Department's estimate of expenditure in 1996-97 is £554 million, and the forecast for 1997-98 is £566 million.
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| PAC 46th Report, HC 459 (1992-93)
| 42. Our predecessors had previously examined in detail the forecasting, monitoring and control of legal aid expenditure. They recognised the difficulty of forecasting expenditure on a demand-led service, but regarded it as unsatisfactory that forecasting and monitoring were no better following improvements promised six years earlier. They noted that it was still not possible to identify more precisely the causes of the increases in legal aid expenditure over the years.
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Qs 2 and 71
Q 3
PAC 46th
Report, HC 459 (1992-93) Evidence Appendix 1, pp 22-23
| 43. The Committee asked the Department to explain the reasons for the continued rising costs, while very few more people were being helped, and were told that the amount of legal aid was determined by the numbers of prosecutions brought and the level of charge. Some cases were heavier than previously, particularly in the Crown Court, but less so in the magistrates' courts. The increases reflected the costs of providing the lawyers who are funded by legal aid. The Department had taken steps to address the increases in emoluments of barristers with standard fees, an initiative which the Committee had supported. In January 1997 a more comprehensive system of graduated fees for advocates in the Crown Court had been introduced.
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Q 4
Q 5
| 44. In the longer term, more fundamental steps were needed. These had been set out in the June 1996 White Paper and would affect the whole legal aid scheme, both civil and criminal. The essence of the changes was that in future, instead of being a demand determined service, legal aid would become cash limited, with a predetermined budget each year. The Department confirmed that the changes implied more effective control of barristers' emoluments.
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| Conclusions |
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| 45. We are very concerned at the continuing steep increase in the cost of criminal legal aid, when there has been only a small increase in the numbers of cases going to court. We note that the review announced by the Lord Chancellor will consider whether existing proposals for reform are the right way to gain a better control over the cost of legal aid. The Department should examine closely the reasons for the cost increase, with particular attention to the effect of increases in the rates paid to solicitors and barristers, so as to identify where improved control may be needed.
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