The number of people on waiting lists and the waiting times for appointments with solicitors at each of the 30 full-time law centres operated by the Legal Aid Board at the end of January 2000 are set out in the following tabular statement. The board currently has sanction for 89 solicitors and 125 administrative staff employed in the law centres. The number of people on the waiting list on 31 January 2000 is 2,692. This figure, which includes people on wait ing lists at part-time law centres, compares with a figure of 2,944 at 31 December 1999.
It should be pointed out, of course, that most people, whether availing of civil legal aid services or paying for the services of private practitioners would tend to experience some waiting period for legal services – either at the outset or in the course of a case. The important figures, therefore, in looking at this situation are not so much the overall number of clients who are listed as "waiting" but the average waiting period for a first appointment at each centre.