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<p> </p><p> </p><p>The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is able to identify fees paid to counsel
for inquest cases funded under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders
(“LASPO”) Act 2012 from April 2013 onwards. For the financial year 2013-14, the total
value of counsel fees paid relating to inquests into the deaths of those in custody
under the LASPO Act totalled £10,574.40.</p><p> </p><p>This figure represents only
those cases under the LASPO Act where payment has been made during 2013-14. Very few
inquests that have been funded under the LASPO Act have been billed and paid in that
period, as many are ongoing. Cases typically take over a year from approval of funding
to payment of the final bill.</p><p> </p><p>The total figure of £10,574.40 does not
include information recorded in the LAA's new costs management system, upon which
a small pilot group of providers are currently processing their claims. The volume
of claims being processed through this system represents around 1% of all claims.</p><p>
</p><p>The Legal Aid Agency does not hold the information requested centrally for
cases funded under the Access to Justice Act 1999 (i.e. cases originally submitted
prior to April 2013). Under the Access to Justice Act, ad hoc payments were made aggregating
fees for the instructed solicitors and counsel on the case, and it is not possible
to disaggregate the costs without checking each individual file.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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