To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many legal aid practices specialising in (a) housing, (b) family law, (c) debt, (d) benefits, (e) criminal law, (f) personal injury law and (g) asylum and immigration law there were in each year since 1997. (118574)

Figures are not available for 1997 to 2000. From 2000, the Legal Services Commission (LSC) introduced contracting with quality-assured solicitors and not-for-profit organisations to provide advice and assistance to clients in certain categories of civil law. The number of specialist contracts held by legal aid practices in each civil category at 31 March each year is as follows:

While the number of contracts has fallen since 2001, in 2005-06 the number of civil acts of assistance reached its highest since 2000 at 708,510.

From 2001, the LSC introduced contracting for services provided under the Criminal Defence Service and the number of contracts held by legal aid practices at 31 March each year is as follows:

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether her Department takes into account loans previously received on (a) a commercial basis and (b) by private arrangement when adjudging the potential income of applicants for legal aid. (119294)

The Legal Services Commission (LSC), when assessing the capital or income of an applicant for civil legal aid, may take into account any funds received through a commercial or private loan. The first £100,000 of any disputed assets can be disregarded from the means assessment process, as can up to £100,000 of any outstanding mortgage. Moreover, in assessing an applicant’s financial eligibility for civil legal aid, the LSC may take into account the resources of other persons where either another person has been maintaining the applicant or their partner, or resources from another person have been made available to the applicant or their partner.

In assessing the income of an applicant for criminal legal aid in the magistrates court, those with a weighted gross income of between £11,591 and £20,739 will have mortgage repayments in respect of their main dwelling taken into consideration by the LSC in assessing their disposable income.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what mechanisms are in place to prevent (a) repetitious and (b) fraudulent legal aid claims in child custody cases. (118389)

The Legal Services Commission’s Funding Code Procedures allow a client in private family law proceedings only one legal aid certificate at any one time in respect of the same family relationship.

The procedures also allow for funding to be revoked if the client has made an untrue or misleading statement, or failed to disclose a material fact, in connection with their legal aid application.