To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many firms held a (a) criminal and (b) civil legal aid contract in each region of England and Wales for each of the last 10 years.
Answered on
21 February 2022
The information requested can be found in the attachment.
The data has been broken down both by individual provider based on geographical location of the lead office, and at office level to account for providers with a permanent presence in multiple regions throughout England and Wales.
The data shows both the total number of active providers with a presence in each region of England and Wales as at 1 April for each year since 2008. Data for the current year is correct as at 10 February 2022.
The term ‘provider’ refers to a particular firm or organisation who holds a contract with the Legal Aid Agency (LAA). The LAA only tracks the number of contracted providers, not the number of individual practitioners who provide legal aid services.
Providers may have one or more office and may hold a contract to provide civil legal aid, criminal legal aid or both civil and criminal legal aid services.
The Legal Aid Agency frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision around the country and moves quickly to secure additional provision where necessary.