I am aware that from time to time the Legal Aid Board finds it necessary to restrict the services, under the civil legal aid scheme which it provides from law centres because of the need to clear backlogs of cases.
This is clearly an unsatisfactory state of affairs. However, I am hopeful that it should be possible to improve the situation as a result of the Government's decision to increase the board's grant-in-aid for this year to its highest ever level at £2.163 million, which has enabled the board to keep open four law centres which otherwise would have had to close and to take on a substantial number of staff at solicitor and administrative levels. Following that decision a number of administrative and solicitor vacancies have been filled and the board is in the process of recruiting solicitors to fill other vacancies.
In time, with an improvement of the financial position, I would hope that undue delays in providing services can be eliminated.