Clause 11 - Unfounded human rights or asylum claim
Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill
10:30 am
Ms Beverley Hughes (Minister of State (Citizenship and Immigration), Home Office; Stretford and Urmston, Labour)
The hon. Member for Isle of Wight is right to be concerned about these issues. I share his concern and concur with the spirit of the amendment and the remedial measures that he proposes. There is concern about the costs of legal aid in asylum cases, which have risen from just over £80 million in 2001–02 to £174 million in 2002–3. Only a relatively small part of that rise is accounted for by an increase in the number of claims at the end of 2003.
There is concern, too, about the quality of some of the work undertaken under legal aid, and about instances of duplication that came to light. That requires action, and the Department for Constitutional Affairs acted in recognition of those concerns.
The consultation document that Lord Falconer published at the end of last year proposed a variety of measures with which the hon. Gentleman will be familiar. They include a financial threshold of five hours for initial decision making; no legal aid work undertaken in asylum cases without the permission of the Legal Services Commission, which will also set financial thresholds in individual cases; accreditation for all the lawyers and caseworkers undertaking legally aided asylum work to address the quality issue; and the introduction of a unique client number to avoid duplication when people change representatives.
In addition to the powers that the Legal Services Commission already has, the measures that the Government have announced will require the Legal Services Commission to operate more robustly. The hon. Gentleman's concerns and the remedies that he proposes will be dealt with through those two routes. I hope that I have reassured him.