Figures cannot be given for individual solicitors but only solicitor offices. They reflect the aggregate of decisions made by many individuals and hence are subject to frequent amendment as and when new information becomes available.
The reductions in the number of solicitor offices, for both civil and criminal legal aid in the last three years is as set out in the following table. The figures reflect the trend of the last several years for offices doing small amounts of legally aided work to drop out of the market or merge with other offices, so that work is done in larger volumes at fewer offices.
This trend has not affected significantly the ability of the public to obtain legal aid conveniently when they require it. 95 per cent. of the population of England and Wales live within five miles of a legal aid provider and the total number of acts of assistance given by providers has increased.
A solicitor office may hold both a civil and a criminal contract and the aggregate of civil and criminal offices does not reflect the total number of them. Neither is the location of a solicitor office necessarily an indication of where providers carry work out. A provider in England could carry out work in Wales and vice versa.
2006-07 2005-06 2004-05 Total spend (£ million net cash) 1,980 2,028 2,038 Total reduction Criminal 98 35 26 Civil1 195 357 312 England reduction Criminal 85 30 6 Civil1 186 340 297 Wales reduction Criminal 13 5 20 Civil1 9 17 15 1 Excludes not for profit sector