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<p>Legal aid is a vital part of our justice system, but we cannot escape the continuing
need to reduce the deficit. The Coalition Government reformed legal aid to reduce
its cost and ensure the system commands the confidence of the public. As part of our
public sector equality duty, the Legal Aid Agency has made it a contractual requirement
that providers have an Equality and Diversity policy in place.</p><p>The number of
civil claims by sector broken down for protected characteristics are shown in the
tables below for the period 2010-11 to 2014-15. Figures for grants or applications
at this level of detail are not held for the Legal Help and Controlled Legal Representation
categories of civil legal aid and so figures for grants have not been provided.</p><p>The
not for profit sector providers are shown based on the administrative system classification
and all other providers are classified as solicitor firms. Where values for the protected
characteristics are not held, unknown or the claimant has preferred not to state their
answer, they are included within the unknown category.</p><p>The MoJ routinely publishes
statistics on client characteristics for each area of legal aid on an annual basis
on the government website.</p>
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