To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what proportion of legal aid costs has been paid to (a) solicitors, (b) expert witnesses and (c) counsel in (i) criminal and (ii) family law cases in each of the last five years. (115639)

The information is provided in the following table.

It is not possible to state what proportion of costs is spent on expert witnesses as this is not recorded centrally.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what estimate she has made of the change in expenditure on (a) family and (b) criminal legal aid which will result from the proposed legal aid reform. (115640)

There will be no additional costs for family or criminal legal aid as a result of the proposals announced in “Legal Aid Reform: The Way Ahead”.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the cost of (a) family and (b) criminal legal aid was in each of the last 10 years. (115642)

The information requested is given in the following table, in terms of cash expenditure.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make a statement on the development of a standard form of legal aid application as set out in Commission Decision 2005/630/EC, OJL225 of 31 August 2006; what assessment her Department has made of the costs of implementing the scheme; and what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the scheme on the quantity of litigation in the courts. (115693)

The form is to accompany legal aid applications which are transmitted between the legal aid authorities of different member states under the European Legal Aid Directive for cross border cases, which came into effect in 2004. The volume of applications is not expected to be significant. In the current financial year, there have been 11 such applications received for legal aid in England and Wales and 27 applications transmitted to other member states.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans she has to conduct a rural impact assessment on the proposed reforms of legal aid. (115750)

My Department and the Legal Services Commission published “Legal Aid Reform: The Way Ahead” in November 2006, which was accompanied by a regulatory impact assessment, including an assessment of the impact of reform upon rural areas. This can be found on both the LSC and DCA’s websites.

The LSC will be consulting further on elements of the reform programme over the coming year. These consultations, some of which will be conducted locally, will also be accompanied with an assessment of any potential impact on rural areas.