The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mrs Helen Grant)
I have today laid and published the Government’s response to the consultation “Fee remissions for the courts and tribunals”, which ran from 18 April to 16 May 2013.
The consultation sought views on reforms to the fee remission system to provide a better targeted, fairer and easier to use system which ensures access to justice for those unable to afford a fee.
A total of 64 responses were received to the consultation from a range of stakeholders including legal bodies, trade unions, business and voluntary bodies and members of the public.
Having carefully considered the views of stakeholders we have decided to take forward the proposals included in the consultation, with some amendments. The key features of the new system will be:
a single system of fee remission across all of the courts and tribunals subject to the consultation, which will be easier for users to understand and to access;
a new disposable capital test to assess eligibility for a remission, with some amendments to that consulted upon to reflect concerns about the impact of the test on those of retirement age and to make clearer the types of capital that will be considered or disregarded;
a new single income test which will be simpler to use and which will require a greater contribution from those who pay part of their fee.
Implementation of these reforms will mean that the taxpayer contribution towards fee remissions will be better targeted towards those who need it most. They will also ensure that the system of remissions is fair, easy to use and consistent across courts and tribunals.
The changes will be implemented by negative statutory instrument, to come into effect on Monday 7 October. Revised guidance on the new system will be also made available to the public.
At the same time, we will also introduce a new fee of £215 for an oral renewal application in judicial review proceedings. This implements changes announced on 23 April 2013, following the Government’s engagement exercise “Judicial Review: proposals for reform”.
The consultation response has been placed in the Vote Office and the Printed Paper Office. The document is also available online at:
https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/fee-remissions-court-tribunals.