Table 1 as follows shows legal aid cash expenditure in each of the last 10 years. Table 2 as follows shows that expenditure for both England and Wales and for Northern Ireland as a proportion of total managed expenditure. Legal aid in Scotland is a devolved matter, funded out of the Scottish block grant which also forms part of total managed expenditure.
When compared to other main domestic areas of public spending, legal aid has been one of the fastest growing areas of public sector spending over the past years. For example, the average annual real-terms growth of legal aid over the past 25 years to 2006-07 was 5.7 per cent. This compares with 4.4 per cent. for social care and protection; 4.2 per cent. for public order and safety; 4.1 per cent. for health and 1.9 per cent. for education.
£ million, net England and Wales Northern Ireland Total 1997-98 1529.6 28.9 1,558 1998-99 1628.1 30.1 1,658 1999-2000 1550.1 34.7 1,585 2000-01 1663.7 37.7 1,701 2001-02 1717.0 41.5 1,759 2002-03 1908.5 45.0 1,954 2003-04 2076.7 49.9 2,127 2004-05 2038.0 58.9 2,097 2005-06 2027.8 57.5 2,085 2006-07 1980.3 69.0 2,049
Percentage England and Wales Northern Ireland Total 1997-98 0.47 0.01 0.48 1998-99 0.49 0.01 0.50 1999-2000 0.45 0.01 0.46 2000-01 0.46 0.01 0.47 2001-02 0.44 0.01 0.45 2002-03 0.45 0.01 0.46 2003-04 0.46 0.01 0.47 2004-05 0.41 0.01 0.43 2005-06 0.39 0.01 0.40 2006-07 0.36 0.01 0.37