Protect - Personal Information CW1

Legal Help, Help at Court

and Family Help (Lower)
Yes No
Is this an application for Exceptional Case Funding? If yes, you must supply an ECF1.
Any work carried out earlier than the date of the Exceptional Case Funding Certificate is done so at risk
and may not be funded should the application be refused. Making a false declaration is an offence. If
you are found doing so, you may be prosecuted and asked to repay your costs in full.

Equal Opportunities Monitoring

Please tick the boxes which your client would describe themselves as being:
Ethnicity
White Mixed Asian or Asian British
(a) British (a) White and Black Caribbean (a) Indian
(b) Irish (b) White and Black African (b) Pakistani
(c) White Other (c) White and Asian (c) Bangladeshi
(d) Mixed Other (d) Asian Other
Black or Black British
(a) Black Caribbean Chinese Other
(b) Black African Gypsy/Traveller Prefer not to say
(c) Black Other
Disability
The Equality Act 2010 defines disability as: a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and
long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
Not Considered Disabled
If a client considers himself or herself to have a disability please select the most appropriate definition.
Definitions:
Mental health condition Blind
Learning disability/difficulty Long-standing physical illness or health
Mobility impairment condition
Deaf Other
Hearing impaired Unknown
Visually impaired Prefer not to say
Completion of this section is voluntary. This will be treated in the strictest confidence and will be used
purely for statistical monitoring and research.

Your client's details

Title: Initials: Surname:
First name: Surname at birth:
(if different)
Date of birth: / / National Insurance no:
Sex: Male Female Prefer not to say
Marital status: Single Married/Civil Partner Cohabiting
Separated Divorced/dissolved CP Widowed
Place of birth: Job:
(town)
Current address:
Postcode:

Controlled Work 1 Page 1 Version 29 September 2022 © Crown Copyright

 Provider Details
(Only complete when submitting a copy of this page with an application for extension
of a Cost Limit)
Name of provider:
Address of provider:
Postcode:
DX (with exchange):
Telephone number: Contract number:

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 Financial Eligibility
1. The client is directly or indirectly in receipt of S.4 or S.95 Asylum Support (Immigration
and Asylum category work only):

Yes Go directly to the Evidence section on page 7.

No Go to question 2.

2. The client has a partner whose means are to be aggregated:

Yes Please provide details of both client's and partner's means.
No Please provide details of client's means only.

3. Type of case (e.g. family):

4. The case is about ownership or possession of assets and / or financial provision:

Yes Go to question 5.
No Go directly to Part B Capital.

5. The client's assets (held in sole name or jointly held) have been claimed by the opponent:
Yes Please complete Part A Capital - Subject matter of dispute.
No Go directly to Part B Capital.

The subject matter of dispute disregard only applies to assets that are specifically claimed by the
opponent. All assets that have not been specifically claimed by the opponent must be included in
Part B Capital.

Part A: Capital - Subject matter of dispute (SMOD)

Please list any property, assets or possessions that the opponent has made a claim to in this case:

1. Property: Main home Other property

Current market value £
Outstanding Mortgage/secured loan £

2. Is property held in joint names with the opponent? Yes Yes

 If property is held in joint names with the opponent, equal No No
shares will normally be assumed for assessment purposes.

3. Client's share of property for assessment? % %

Enter 50% when property is jointly owned with opponent.
Select 100% when property is solely owned by client or
jointly with partner. Enter an appropriate % if another party
has an interest.

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 Part A: Capital - Subject matter of dispute (SMOD) continued
Main home Other property
4. Total Net Equity (i.e. current market value minus mortgage
disregard): £
Deduct the full amount of any debt secured by a mortgage or
charge on the property.

5. Client's share of Total Net Equity:

Multiply answer to question 4 by answer to question 3. £

6. Final assessed amount of Client's equity:

Calculated by applying the SMOD disregard; followed by the £
equity disregard of £100,000 to the main home.
The maximum SMOD disregard is £100,000.
The SMOD disregard must be applied to the main home first
(i.e. deducted from the client's share of total net equity shown
as answer to question 5); any remainder (i.e. only if client's
share of total net equity in main dwelling is less than
£100,000) should then be applied to other property.
You must not reverse the order of the disregards

7. Other assets and possessions claimed by the opponent: Client and Partner
Savings (bank, building society, etc) £
Investments (shares, insurance policies, etc) £
Valuable items (boat, caravan, jewellery, etc) £
Other capital (including money due to the client) £

Total capital Part A £

This is the total capital amount after applying the SMOD disregard of £100,000 to the assets
in this section.
If there are no SMOD property assets, apply the full £100,000 SMOD disregard to the assets
set out in question 7 above.

PLEASE DON'T STRIKE THROUGH THE ENTIRE PAGE TO INDICATE THAT THE QUESTIONS
DO NOT APPLY - QUESTIONS MUST BE ANSWERED

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 Part B: Capital
 Please list all client's and partner's property, assets or possessions not included in Part A.
 Capital excludes household furniture and effects (unless exceptional value), clothes and
tools of trade.

1. Property: Main home Other property

Current market value: £
Outstanding Mortgage/secured loan: £

2. Is property held in joint names with the opponent? Yes Yes

If property is held in joint names with the opponent, equal
No No
shares will normally be assumed for assessment purposes.

3. Client's share of property for assessment: % %

Enter 50% when property is jointly owned with opponent.
Select 100% when property is solely owned by client or jointly
with partner. Enter an appropriate % if another party has an
interest.
Main home Other property
4. Total Net Equity (i.e. current market value minus mortgage
disregard): £
Deduct the full amount of any debt secured by a mortgage or
charge on the property.

5. Client's share of Total Net Equity: £

Multiply answer to question 4 by answer to question 3.

6. Final assessed amount of Client's equity:

After applying equity disregard of £100,000 to client's share of £
total net equity in main home (shown as answer to question 5).

7. Other assets and possessions: Client Partner

Savings (bank, building society, etc) £ £
Investments (shares, insurance policies etc) £ £
Valuable items (boat, caravan, jewellery, etc) £ £
Other capital (including money due to the client) £ £
Total capital Part B £

Total of all capital assets (Part A and Part B) £

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 Part C: Income
The client is directly or indirectly in receipt of Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance,
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Guarantee Credit or Universal Credit.

Yes Go directly to the Evidence section on page 7.

No Continue with income details.

 Use monthly figures

(if paid weekly, multiply by 52 & divide by 12)
(if paid four weekly, multiply by 13 & divide by 12)
Income includes: Client Partner
 Gross monthly earnings £ £
 Other income £ £
(including child benefit, pensions, maintenance,
dividends, tax credits, benefits in kind, etc)
Total gross income £ £
Total gross income (Client and Partner) £

Less monthly allowances:

 Housing costs, including:
Mortgage instalment* (capped if client has no dependents) £ £
Rent* (capped if client has no dependents) £ £
* amounts should be net of housing benefit

 Dependents' allowances:
Partner £
Dependents Aged 15 and under £
Aged 16 or over £

 Tax and National Insurance £ £

 Standard allowance for employment expenses £ £

 Maintenance payments actually being made £ £
(eg for children and/or a former/separated spouse)
 Childcare costs because of work/self employment £
 Payment of income contribution order (criminal £ £
legal aid)

Total allowances £ £
Total monthly disposable income £ £
Total monthly disposable income £
(Client and Partner)

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 Evidence
Evidence given in support of means Yes you will need to complete No
the evidence checklist on
page 15.
If no, please record justification or exceptional circumstance.

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 LEGAL AID AGENCY
PRIVACY NOTICE

Purpose
This privacy notice sets out the standards that you can expect from the Legal Aid Agency
when we request or hold personal information (‘personal data’) about you; how you can get
access to a copy of your personal data; and what you can do if you think the standards are
not being met.

The Legal Aid Agency is an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The MoJ is
the data controller for the personal information we hold. The Legal Aid Agency collects and
processes personal data for the exercise of its own and associated public functions. Our
public function is to provide legal aid.

About personal information

Personal data is information about you as an individual. It can be your name, address or
telephone number. It can also include the information that you have provided in a legal aid
application such as your financial circumstances and information relating to any current or
previous legal proceedings concerning you.

We know how important it is to protect customers’ privacy and to comply with data protection
laws. We will safeguard your personal data and will only disclose it where it is lawful to do
so, or with your consent.

Types of personal data we process

We only process personal data that is relevant for the services we are providing to you. The
personal data which you have provided in your legal aid application will only be used for the
purposes set out below.

Purpose of processing and the lawful basis for the process

The purpose of the Legal Aid Agency collecting and processing the personal data which you
have provided in a legal aid application is for the purposes of providing legal aid. Our lawful
basis is ‘the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of
official authority’ as set out in Article 6(1)(e) of UK GDPR. The tasks are those set out in the
Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. Specifically, we will use this
personal data in the following ways:

• In deciding whether you are eligible for legal aid, whether you are required to make a
contribution towards the costs of this legal aid and to assist the Legal Aid Agency in
collecting those contributions, if appropriate.

• In assessing claims from your legal aid Provider(s) for payment from the legal aid
fund for the work that they have conducted on your behalf.

• In conducting periodic assurance audits on legal aid files to ensure that decisions
have been made correctly and accurately.

• In producing statistics and information on our processes to enable us to improve our

processes and to assist us in carrying out our functions.

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 Were the Legal Aid Agency unable to collect this personal information, we would not be able
to conduct the activities above, which would prevent us from providing legal aid.

We collect ‘special categories of personal data’. This data is collected where necessary for
the purposes set out above. The condition under which we process this data is Article 9(g) of
UK GDPR – Reasons of substantial public interest. Our associated Schedule 1 condition is
Statutory and Government purposes. We also collect this data for the purposes of monitoring
equality, this is a legal requirement for public authorities under the Equality Act 2010. Special
categories of personal data will be treated with the strictest confidence and any information
published under the Equality Act will not identify you or anyone else associated with your
legal aid application.

We collect ‘personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences or related security
measures’. This data is collected where relevant for the purposes set out above. The Legal
Aid Agency is an Executive Agency of the MoJ, an Official Authority for the purposes of
Article 10 of UK GDPR.

Who the information may be shared with

We sometimes need to share the personal information we process with other organisations.
When this is necessary, we will comply with all aspects of the relevant data protection laws.
The organisations we may share your personal information include:

• Your instructed legal aid Provider(s), including any advocate instructed by a legal aid
solicitor;

• Public authorities such as: HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), HM Revenue
and Customs (HMRC), Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), Home Office and
HM Land Registry;

• Non-public authorities such as: Credit reference agencies Equifax and TransUnion
and our debt collection partners Marston Holdings

• If false or inaccurate information is provided or fraud identified, the Legal Aid Agency
can lawfully share your personal information with fraud prevention agencies to detect
and to prevent fraud and money laundering. We may specifically share data with
HMRC and DWP for fraud prevention, investigation and prosecution purposes; and

• Where a debt is owed to the Legal Aid Agency, we may share your data with public
authorities such as HMRC and DWP and with debt collection partners such as
Marston Holdings for the purposes of tracing, debt collection and enforcement.
You can contact our Data Protection Officer for further information on the organisations we
may share your personal information with.

Data Processors
We may contract with third party data processors to provide email, system administration,
document management and IT storage services. Any personal data shared with a data
processor for this purpose will be governed by model contract clauses under data protection
law.

We contract with Marston Holdings as a data processor for the collection and enforcement of
criminal legal aid contributions. Any personal data shared with the data processor for this
purpose is governed by model contract clauses under data protection law.

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 Automated decision making
We do not use solely automated decision making within the definition of Article 22(1) of UK
GDPR. The overall decision on an application for legal aid or a claim for costs in a legal aid
case will always be made by a human decision maker. This could be a member of our staff,
or a staff member of a legal aid Provider acting under delegated authority from the Legal Aid
Agency.

Details of transfers to third country and safeguards

Personal data may be transferred to locations in the European Economic Area (EEA) where
required by our data processors for hosting, storage and secure backup of our IT services.
Such transfers are made on the basis of Adequacy decisions between the UK and EEA in
accordance with Article 45 of UK GDPR.

In limited and exceptional circumstances, where required for the provision of technical
support, personal data stored in our call centre software may be accessed by support staff
located in USA, Romania, Philippines, Singapore or Australia. Where transfers for this
purpose are made to locations without Adequacy decisions the transfer is made on the basis
of exceptions under Article 49 of UK GDPR and is required for the legitimate interests of the
Ministry of Justice. The software provider maintains the same standards of IT and personnel
security for its services overseas as it does for services in the UK.

Retention period for information collected

Your personal information will not be retained for any longer than is necessary for the lawful
purposes for which it has been collected and processed. This is to ensure that your personal
information does not become inaccurate, out of date or irrelevant. The Legal Aid Agency
have set retention periods for the personal information that we collect, this can be accessed
via our website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/record-retention-and-disposition-schedules

You can also contact our Data Protection Officer for a copy of our retention policies.

While we retain your personal data, we will ensure that it is kept securely and protected from
loss, misuse or unauthorised access and disclosure. Once the retention period has been
reached, your personal data will be permanently and securely deleted and destroyed.

Access to personal information

You can find out if we hold any personal data about you by making a ‘subject access
request’. If you wish to make a subject access request please contact:

Disclosure Team - Post point 10.25

Ministry of Justice
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ

Data.access@justice.gov.uk

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 When we ask you for personal data
We promise to inform you why we need your personal data and ask only for the personal
data we need and not collect information that is irrelevant or excessive.

When we collect your personal data, we have responsibilities, and you have rights, these
include:

• That you can withdraw consent at any time, where relevant;

• That you can lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority;
• That we will protect and ensure that no unauthorised person has access to it;
• That your personal data is shared with other organisations only for legitimate
purposes;
• That we don’t keep it longer than is necessary;
• That we will not make your personal data available for commercial use without your
consent; and
• That we will consider your request to correct, stop processing or erase your personal
data.

You can get more details on:

• Agreements we have with other organisations for sharing information;
• Circumstances where we can pass on personal information without telling you, for
example, to help with the prevention or detection of crime or to produce anonymised
statistics;
• Our instructions to staff on how to collect, use or delete your personal information;
• How we check that the information we hold is accurate and up-to-date; and
• How to make a complaint.

For more information about the above issues, please contact the;

The Data Protection Officer

Ministry of Justice
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ

dataprotection@justice.gov.uk

Complaints
When we ask you for information, we will comply with the law. If you consider that your
information has been handled incorrectly, you can contact the Information Commissioner for
independent advice about data protection. You can contact the Information Commissioner
at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113
www.ico.org.uk

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 Client's Certification
Please tick the box below which applies to you:-

I have not already received legal help or family help (lower) from a solicitor or
contracted provider on this matter.

I have already received legal help or family help (lower) from a solicitor or
contracted provider on this matter. If so, please state when:

I agree to my solicitor or contracted provider having a first charge on any money or

property (including costs) which I recover or preserve in or in relation to the matter for
which I am being advised. (Family help (lower) cases which exceed the standard fee only).

This is a true statement of all my and my partner's income and assets in the UK and
abroad.

I understand that I must tell you immediately if there are any changes in my or my partner's
financial circumstances.

I agree that the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) can contact other parties to check these facts
and I authorise those parties to provide the information they are asked for.

I understand that the LAA may check my income and capital status with His Majesty's
Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and authorise HMRC to carry out such checks as are
necessary to verify my financial status and give that information to LAA.

I understand that the LAA may confirm my receipt of continuing benefit with the
Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). The DWP may carry out such processing as
is necessary to check this information remains correct and may inform the LAA of any
relevant changes.

I understand that if I give false information or withhold any relevant information the
services provided to me may be cancelled at which point I will become liable to pay
all the costs that have been incurred and I may be prosecuted.

Signed: Date:

Partner's declaration
If you have a partner whose details have been completed on this form then they
must sign the authority below.

This is a true statement of all my income and assets in the UK and abroad.
I agree to the LAA checking these facts with other parties such as the Department of Work
and Pensions (DWP) and the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and I authorise those
parties (including HMRC and DWP) to provide the information they are asked for.

Signed: Date:

Note to solicitor: Please ensure you complete any relevant boxes on page 13.

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 Legal Help and Help at Court
Tick the relevant box below if you have:
Travelled out of the office to visit the client, other than at court.
Accepted an application from a child or patient or someone on their behalf.
Provided legal help to a client who has already received it on the same
matter within the last 6 months.
Given telephone advice by you or your firm before the signature of the form.
Claimed for outward travel before the signature of the form.

Accepted a postal application.

If you have ticked any of the above boxes, please provide the circumstances justifying this in
accordance with the relevant Rule in the Contract Specification.

Legal aid is only available for these proceedings under paragraphs 12 and 13 of Part 1, Schedule 1
of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 if the evidence requirements
set out in regulation 33 and 34 of the Civil Legal Aid (Procedures) Regulations and/or guidance are
satisfied.
Evidence given? Yes No This evidence must be retained on the file.

Family Help (Lower) - private law

Are the relevant criteria in the Civil Legal Aid (Merits Criteria)
Regulations 2012 for family help (lower) met and does the case Yes No
satisfy the conditions as set out in the Family Specification?
Was an application for legal representation made in this matter? Yes No

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 Time spent and costs
Item Time Spent
1. Attendance
2. Preparation
3. Help at Court
4. Travel and Waiting
Total:

Item Number
1. Letters written
2. Phone calls

Total Profit Costs £ Vat £

Value or amount of contractual or statutory charge £

Disbursements
Amount Vat
Mileage £ £
Other disbursements £ £
Total £ £
Counsel's fees £ £
Dated
Note: When calculating profit costs, the time spent on each activity and the letters and telephone
calls must be separated out according to the remuneration rate which applied at the time the work
was carried out. Please see the Remuneration Regulations for the appropriate rates.
Remember that you may not charge separately for letters in.
The totals for profit costs, disbursements and counsel's fees from this form and the Controlled Legal
Representation Form (if applicable) should be the same (after adding VAT and net of the amount of
the statutory charge and any payment on account), as those reported by you in your online
submission. Where a staged bill has been submitted in an Immigration matter a separate copy of this
page should be completed for each stage reported.

Certification (to be completed for Exceptional Funding cases only)

I certify that:
I have taken all reasonable steps to ensure my client has completed the Financial eligibility
questions on the accompanying Controlled Work Form fully and accurately. I have applied the Civil
Legal Aid (Financial Resources and Payment for Services) Regulations 2013 to the information
supplied by my client and assessed my client as being eligible for legal aid in this matter.
I am able to act in this matter under the competence standards set out in my firms legal aid
contract; and my organization is currently trading and no Law Society intervention or other
sanction prohibits me from acting in this matter (legal help only).
Proof of means has been obtained.

Signed: Date: / /
(Authorised litigator)
Name:

Controlled Work 1 Page 14

Evidence Checklist
Please tick the relevant box(es) to indicate evidence collected.
Please refer to the detailed financial eligibility guidance for controlled work.
Income
Employed (P.A.Y.E.) Income: State benefits (including passporting benefits):
Wage slips Bank statements
Self Employed Income: Name and type of benefit e.g.
Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
Recent bank statements
must be specified on the statement or
Complete financial accounts additional evidence will be required e.g.
Self Assessment Tax Return notification letter.
Cash book Original notification letter (for passporting
benefit, please refer to the table providing
Benefits in Kind examples of acceptable and unacceptable
P11D tax form (benefits in kind) evidence in Lord Chancellors Guidance).
Other Income: Latest letter advising change in benefit
Private /Occupational Pension documents amount
Letter from paying agency i.e. Department
Evidence of rental income (bank
for Work and Pensions, Jobcentre Plus,
statement or tenancy agreement)
Pension Service confirming receipt of the
Trust income (bank statement or letter passporting benefit at the date of
from trustees) application.
Letter from friend/family providing support Letters must specify name and type of
benefit. Letters over 6 months old must be
student grant/loan letter supported by a recent bank statement.
Other: Asylum Support (AS):
(e.g. bank statements) Letter from AS or Local Authority that
For pensions and any other income that is the individual is in receipt of support.
subject to income tax, evidence must show Letter must be less than 6 months old.
the gross amount before tax is deducted.
Tax Credits:
Tax Credit Award Notice (most recent).
Other recent HMRC letter confirming
amount received.
Letter must be less than 6 months old.
Expenditure (refer to guidance on risk-based evidence):
Income Tax and National Insurance: Child Care costs in excess of £600 per
Wage slips (employees P.A.Y.E.) month
Tax calculation sheet form SA302 (self Copy of agreement/contract
employed) Bank statement
Housing costs (where amount exceeds Maintenance (see guidance)
one-third of client's gross income):
Receipts
Rent book/tenancy agreement
Bank statement
Mortgage statement
Copy of Maintenance Order
Bank statement
Capital (refer to guidance on risk-based evidence):
Bank statement Other:
Share certificate
National savings certificate/passbook
Premium Savings Bonds or Bond Record (summary)
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