To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the Legal Aid Agency's target timescale is for the payment of legal aid to barristers at the criminal public bar; what proportion of legal aid payments were made by the Legal Aid Agency within the agency's target timescale in the latest period for which figures are available; what the total number of claims outstanding for longer than that target timescale is; and how many claims have been outstanding for longer than six months.

Last year the Legal Aid Agency's (LAA) target for processing of invoices under the Advocate Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS) was 90% within 30 working days. Against this it achieved 94%.

From 1 July 2013 our target has tightened further to 90% in 25 working days. Since the beginning of July 2013, LAA are currently processing the majority of claims at 23 days, so are within the revised target.

As at 5 July, LAA had 904 claims outside of the 25 working day target. As LAA currently receives approximately 2800 AGFS claims per week, this represents less than two days of average intake. There are no claims outstanding for longer than six months. There will be instances when we require further information, as a bill needs further scrutiny to ensure we are using taxpayers' money appropriately. This is entirely the correct thing to do.