Asylum-seekers' £4m legal aid bill attacked

The legal aid bill for asylum seekers is set to top £4 million a year, official figures show.

The Conservatives branded the costs "astonishing" and called on the Scottish Government to provide a more "value-for-money" scheme.

Figures obtained by the Tories through a parliamentary answer show that the total bill was 3.8 million in 2008-9 and has already reached 2.5 million in 2010-11.

Justice spokesman John Lamont said: "There are hundreds of thousands of asylum cases that have been hanging around for years. This involves a huge cost to the taxpayer, as well as being unfair to those involved."