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On 15 January 2018, in a written reply to a question from Chris Ruance, the Labour MP for the Vale of Clwyd (
HC Written Question 207160), legal aid minister Lucy Frazer QC MP outlined the dramatic fall in social security legal help (advice only) cases funded by legal aid over the past 10 years.
The figures show a steady decline for the five to years 2012/13, down from 135,751 matter starts to 82,554. In 2013/14, the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) removed social security cases from scope apart from a few cases in the Upper Tribunal. Last year (2017/18), there were only 443 legal help cases and nine civil representation cases (see table).
Year | Legal help matter starts | Civil representation granted certificates |
2008/09 | 135,751 | 51 |
2009/10 | 141,625 | 53 |
2010/11 | 116,081 | 23 |
2011/12 | 102,920 | 22 |
2012/13 | 82,554 | 16 |
2013/14 | 163 | 8 |
2014/15 | 505 | 6 |
2015/16 | 250 | 9 |
2016/17 | 442 | 10 |
2017/18 | 443 | 9 |
Frazer also confirmed that the post-legislative review of LASPO was ‘near completion’ and would be ‘published shortly’.