To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many welfare cases were granted legal aid in each year since 2011-12; and how many of those cases involved a challenge to a decision to remove an entitlement to benefits.

The number of welfare cases granted legal aid is published in the National Statistics on legal aid in England and Wales, at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/legal-aid-statistics-january-to-march-2017 (table 5.1 and table 6.2). Note that it is not possible to report on how many of these cases involved a challenge to remove an entitlement to benefits, as this level of detail is not recorded.