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1489369

registered interest
date	14/07/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners: Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to page 25 of his Department's publication entitled Final Report: Review of legal aid for inquests, if his Department will publish the method by which it assessed that it would cost between £30 million and £70 million to provide non-means tested legal aid in the event that it be awarded to families at all inquests where public bodies are represented.
tabling member constituency	Croydon North
tabling member printed	Steve Reed
uin	36771
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2022 answer text <p>Our assessment of cost was derived from a number of data sources: data from the January to March 2018 edition of the Legal Aid Statistics was used to determine the current volume and costs of inquests receiving legal aid and a unit cost for an inquest was assumed using median spend; the Coroners Statistics 2017 were used to estimate the annual number of future inquests; a survey of senior coroners was used to inform an assumption for the proportion of inquests that had public bodies represented and given the level of uncertainty on this, a range was used. By combining this assumption with the total number of inquests we arrived at an estimated volume of cases annually that would have state representation.</p><p> </p><p>Applying the unit cost of inquests to the estimated volumes gave an estimated additional spend ranging from £30m to £70m (rounded to the nearest £10m).</p> answering member constituency Derbyshire Dales answering member printed Miss Sarah Dines question first answered 19/07/2022 15:54:18 answering member 4816 label Biography information for Miss Sarah Dines
tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1173222

registered interest
date	24/01/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners: Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has plans to bring forward legislative proposals for non means tested legal aid funding for families in relation to state-related deaths.
tabling member constituency	Manchester, Gorton
tabling member printed	Afzal Khan
uin	7671
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/02/2020 answer text <p>The Government’s Review of Legal Aid for Inquests was published on 7 February 2019.</p><p> </p><p>Legal aid for representation at inquests is not generally available, because the inquest process is an inquisitorial, fact finding process. Having considered the impact on bereaved families of additional representatives, and the impact of a possible expansion on the wider legal aid scheme, we decided not to introduce non-means tested legal aid for inquests.</p><p> </p><p>However, the Government realises that there may be some instances where legal representation is required at inquests and funding may be available through the Exceptional Case Funding scheme (ECF). The decision to provide funding under ECF is taken by the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) who make their decisions independently from political and Government influence. The Legal Support Action Plan published following the post implementation review of LASPO, includes a commitment to simplify the ECF scheme to ensure it works as effectively as possible for those who need it.</p><p> </p><p>The evidence that we gathered as part of our Review for Legal Aid for Inquests will also be considered as part of the Legal Aid Means Test Review, which is looking at the thresholds for legal aid entitlement. This Review is assessing the effectiveness with which the means test protects access to justice, particularly for those who are vulnerable, and is currently scheduled for publication in Summer 2020.</p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton question first answered 03/02/2020 16:10:25 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
tabling member	4671 label Biography information for Afzal Khan

1166855

registered interest
date	28/10/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners: Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost incurred by the Legal Aid Agency was for means-testing applications for grants of exceptional funding in relation to representation at inquests before Coroners' Courts in (a) each year since 2013 (b) 2019 to date.
tabling member constituency	Leeds East
tabling member printed	Richard Burgon
uin	6450
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2019 answer text <p>The means of applicants for Exceptional Case Funding are tested in accordance with the Civil Legal Aid (Financial Resources and Payment for Services) Regulations 2013, which apply to all applications for civil legal aid.</p><p>As such, it is not possible to ascribe a figure to the cost of assessing financial eligibility in ECF matters specifically, as this is not conducted under a separate process within the Legal Aid Agency.</p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton question first answered 05/11/2019 15:39:35 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
tabling member	4493 label Biography information for Richard Burgon

1137138

registered interest
date	05/07/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners: Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for how many inquests was legal aid provided in each year since 2012.
tabling member constituency	Ashfield
tabling member printed	Gloria De Piero
uin	273772
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2019 answer text <p>This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard grouped question UIN 273774 question first answered 10/07/2019 16:21:37 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	3915 label Biography information for Gloria De Piero

1137139

registered interest
date	05/07/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners: Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the proportion of inquests for which legal aid was provided in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Ashfield
tabling member printed	Gloria De Piero
uin	273773
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2019 answer text <p>This information would only be available at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Legal aid funding is provided when the requisite eligibility criteria are met. Following consideration of claims for payment from the lawyers involved, all payments are made from a central legal aid budget, which is not demarcated according to any particular category of law.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 10/07/2019 16:30:20 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	3915 label Biography information for Gloria De Piero

1137140

registered interest
date	05/07/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners: Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total value of legal aid granted to inquests in each year since 2010 is.
tabling member constituency	Ashfield
tabling member printed	Gloria De Piero
uin	273774
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2019 answer text <p>This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard grouped question UIN 273772 question first answered 10/07/2019 16:21:37 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	3915 label Biography information for Gloria De Piero

1133731

registered interest
date	20/06/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners: Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications were granted or part granted on behalf of bereaved families for Exceptional Case Funding for legal representation under the public interest test at inquests in 2017/18.
tabling member constituency	Leeds East
tabling member printed	Richard Burgon
uin	267353
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/06/2019 answer text <p>This information could only be retrieved at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 25/06/2019 15:19:14 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4493 label Biography information for Richard Burgon

1064442

registered interest
date	20/02/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners: Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what consultations his Department (a) sought and (b) held with bodies on its review of the means testing element of legal aid at inquests in its review of legal aid for inquests report, published in February 2019.
tabling member constituency	Ashfield
tabling member printed	Gloria De Piero
uin	223967
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/03/2019 answer text <p>We think the time is now right to look at the means test and uprating in more detail. As part of the publication of the Legal Support Action Plan on 7 February, the Government has announced a review of the legal aid means testing thresholds and their interaction with the wider eligibility criteria. We are bringing together data and evidence from across government to ensure that the process is as thorough and consistent as possible. Following our consideration, we will bring forward any changes as soon as is practical.</p><p> </p><p>In order to inform our review of inquests, we undertook a broad evidence-gathering exercise, which included surveys of senior coroners, consultative group discussions with the legal profession, third sector organisations and bereaved families, and a six-week call for evidence exercise which was held over summer 2018. We examined all the evidence closely and our findings are reflected in the final report.</p><p> </p><p>We would like to explore further options for the funding of legal support at inquests where the state has state-funded representation. To do this we will work closely with other Government Departments.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 223966 question first answered 29/03/2019 15:26:15 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	3915 label Biography information for Gloria De Piero

1063610

registered interest
date	18/02/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners: Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many inquests were granted legal aid for civil representation; what the average amount awarded was for those cases; and how much funding was allocated for that representation in each year since 2013.
tabling member constituency	Leeds East
tabling member printed	Richard Burgon
uin	222585
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/02/2019 answer text <p>Legal aid is available for representation under the Exceptional Case Funding (ECF) scheme. Legal aid is also available for initial advice and assistance prior to any application for civil representation becoming necessary.</p><p> </p><p>The provision of legal aid for inquests did not change substantively under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO).</p><p> </p><p>The number of certificates granted for civil representation at an inquest in each complete financial year since 2013 is shown below:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Financial Year</p></td><td><p>Applications granted/part granted</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>54</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014-15</p></td><td><p>110</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015-16</p></td><td><p>165</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-17</p></td><td><p>165</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>177</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The figures below show how many cases concluded in each financial year, and have had all claims associated with these paid in full. Please note that some cases will be continuing and will therefore costs associated with these will still be outstanding.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>FY</p></td><td><p>Costs (£)</p></td><td><p>Volume of cases started in that year which have completed</p></td><td><p>Average costs per matter (£)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>350,174</p></td><td><p>31</p></td><td><p>11,296</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014-15</p></td><td><p>597,313</p></td><td><p>65</p></td><td><p>9,189</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015-16</p></td><td><p>752,686</p></td><td><p>91</p></td><td><p>8,271</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-17</p></td><td><p>677,892</p></td><td><p>80</p></td><td><p>8,474</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>197,333</p></td><td><p>33</p></td><td><p>5,980</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The budget for the legal aid fund is set by MoJ and payments are made from this on a demand-led basis based on the application of the applicable means and merits eligibility criteria. Funding is not ‘allocated’ for specific categories of law or types of legal aid.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 21/02/2019 16:44:40 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4493 label Biography information for Richard Burgon

1002114

registered interest
date	05/11/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners: Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the spend by (a) each Government department and (b) the Government on legal representation at inquests in each year since 2012.
tabling member constituency	Leeds East
tabling member printed	Richard Burgon
uin	188193
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/11/2018 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice does not hold information about expenditure by other Government departments or state bodies on legal representation at inquests. Any expenditure by the Ministry of Justice on legal representation at inquests would not be separately recorded from other expenditure on legal costs.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 185682 question first answered 15/11/2018 17:33:02 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4493 label Biography information for Richard Burgon