asked Her Majesty's Government:

How much of the total criminal legal aid budget for the latest 12-month period for which figures are available was spent on (a) cases set down for 40 days or longer, and (b) all other cases. [HL2980]

Crown Court cases expected to last 41 days or more are administered under the Very High Cost Case scheme by the Legal Services Commission. Therefore, expenditure on cases set down to last 40 days or more is not available. The latest figures available show that, during 2005-06, expenditure on cases expected to last for 41 days or longer was £103 million. However, not all those cases would have necessarily lasted 41 days or more in practice. Additionally, there are some residual cases lasting between 25 and 40 days from a previous scheme which are included in the figure for the Very High Cost Case scheme.

The latest figures available (2005-06) show that expenditure on all other Crown Court cases is £592 million. Those figures could include payments for cases that were not expected to last more than 40 days but did. A further £284 million was also spent on representation in magistrates' courts.

All the figures above are in cash terms. Figures for 2006-07 will be available in July 2007.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How much of the total legal aid budget for the latest 12-month period for which figures are available was spent on (a) criminal, and (b) civil cases. [HL2981]

During 2005-06, the latest year for which figures are available, the expenditure on criminal matters through the criminal defence service scheme is set out in the table below.

During the same period, the expenditure on civil matters through the Community Legal Service scheme is set out below.

Figures for 2006-07 are expected to be available by July 2007.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How much of the total criminal legal aid budget for the latest 12-month period for which figures are available was incurred by (a) solicitors, and (b) barristers. [HL2982]

During 2005-06, the last financial year for which figures are available, legal aid spend for proceedings in the Crown Court and above came to £695 million. Of that, £320 million was paid to solicitors and £375 million was paid to barristers. During the same period, £501 million was paid for legal advice and representation in the magistrates' courts. The figures will include payments made directly to barristers by the instructing solicitors, where paid. However, these payments form part of the solicitors’ disbursements, of which a separate breakdown is not available.

Figures for 2006-07 will be available in July 2007.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How much of the total criminal legal aid budget for the latest 12 month period for which figures are available was spent on cases in (a) magistrates’courts, and (b) Crown Courts. [HL2983]

During 2005-06, the last financial year for which figures are readily available, £284 million was spent on representation for cases in the magistrates' courts. In addition to this, a further £21 million was spent under the court duty solicitor scheme and £4 million under the public defender scheme, both of which may include representation in the magistrates' court.

During the same period, £695 million was spent in the Crown Court and criminal appeal courts.

Overall expenditure on all criminal legal aid, including advice at the police station, came to £1,197 million during 2005-06.

Figures for 2006-07 will be available in July 2007.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many legal aid firms of solicitors in London have (a) signed the new legal aid contract, and (b) declined to do so. [HL3104]

In London a total of 496 contracts were issued to civil legal aid solicitor firms. 450 firms signed and returned their contracts by the deadline. 46 firms have declined to sign. This equates to a sign-up rate of 91 per cent among solicitors in London.