Offences against Children: Legal Aid Scheme
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total cost to the public purse was of legal aid for people (a) accused and (b) convicted for their involvement in grooming gangs, broken down by nationality [in each of the last five years].
Answered by Sarah Sackman
This information requested is not held centrally.
There is no single criminal offence of ‘involvement in a grooming gang’. As such, the information recorded and tracked regarding offence type when applying for legal aid does not differentiate between defendants involved in group-based child sexual exploitation offences from those accused or convicted of sexual offences more generally.
Further, where proceedings are before a court or tribunal in England or Wales, legal aid is available to individuals who qualify for services irrespective of their nationality or usual place of residence. As nationality is not a determinative factor in the availability of legal aid it is not mandatory that this information is provided with an application for legal aid.
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