The expenditure on legal aid in cash terms during each of the financial years since 1997-98 is set out in the following table.
£ million 1997-98 1,525 1998-99 1,623 1999-2000 l,551 2000-01 1,664 2001-02 l,716 2002-03 1,909 2003-04 2,077 2004-05 2,038 2005-06 2,028 2006-07 l,980
Legal aid is paid at a wide range of different rates reflecting the variety of cases funded under different schemes within the Criminal Defence Service (CDS) and Community Legal Service (CLS). Details of the rates currently payable for the various categories of legal aid are available on the Legal Services Commission's website.
It is not possible to state the number of hours of legal aid work carried out in each year since 1997, as this is not centrally recorded. By January 2008 the vast majority of legal aid work will be remunerated on a ‘ per case’ basis rather than by the hour, reflecting the progressive extension of fixed and graduated fees over recent years.