.
The MoJ published the
annual legal aid statistics today. These are the first that show the effect of a full year of LASPO - and the effects are stark. They include
a reduction of 50% in the overall amount of Legal Help matters started
a fall of 80% in the number of social welfare cases (both LH and certificate) - including a fall of 45% in housing
a fall of 60% in the number of family cases, and 40% in the number of family mediations
1520 applications for exceptional funding - but just 69 grants, of which 53 were for inquests
the number of civil legal aid providers has halved since 2008, and the number of crime providers has fallen by 16% over the same period
in 2012-13 there were 870 NfP legal aid providers. In 2013-14 there were just 95 - a fall of 90%. The figures also show an ongoing fall in expenditure - the total crime spend has fallen £200 million in two years, to £900 million - the lowest for at least 8 years. And this is before any of the recent cuts to crime scope and rates have taken effect. Similarly, civil expenditure is down £150 million to £800 million - the lowest since 2007 - and this will include many cases started before the scope cuts took effect. Next year's expenditure is likely to show a steep drop, following this year's plummeting case start numbers.