Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which courts have fees set at cost recovery levels.
Answered by Oliver Heald
Our courts and tribunals play a critical role in our society and it is vital we preserve the principle of access to justice by providing a properly funded service.
It is right that those who use the court and tribunal system should pay more to relieve the burden on the taxpayer.
At every stage we have sought to protect the most vulnerable by ensuring that a system of fee remissions and exemptions is in place for those who cannot afford to pay a fee.
In the civil courts the fees for issuing money claims worth less than £10,000 and the hearing fees in small claims are set at cost recovery levels and in the family courts the fees for public law family proceedings, care and supervision orders, are at cost recovery levels. Additionally, applications for a grant of probate are also currently set at cost recovery levels.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much court fees have increased since 2010, by court; and what the level of such fees has been at each such increase.
Answered by Oliver Heald
The details of all court fee increases since 2010 can be found in the relevant secondary legislation, which is available on http://www.legislation.gov.uk/
When we announce our intention to change court and tribunal fees we routinely publish, alongside the Government response to consultation, an Impact Assessment setting out our assessment of the impacts of those changes, these are also available on the www.gov.uk website. We keep our court and tribunal fees policy under regular review.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the effect of fee increases in tribunals and courts in the last five years on numbers of applications and appeals.
Answered by Oliver Heald
The details of all court fee increases since 2010 can be found in the relevant secondary legislation, which is available on http://www.legislation.gov.uk/
When we announce our intention to change court and tribunal fees we routinely publish, alongside the Government response to consultation, an Impact Assessment setting out our assessment of the impacts of those changes, these are also available on the www.gov.uk website. We keep our court and tribunal fees policy under regular review.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many litigants in person lodged successful appeals under the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) in each of the last five years.
Answered by Oliver Heald
The Ministry of Justice does not hold information on the number of Tribunal users without legal representation.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many tribunal users did not have legal representation and were litigants in person in the First-tier Tribunal in each of the last five years.
Answered by Oliver Heald
The Ministry of Justice does not hold information on the number of Tribunal users without legal representation.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the gender composition of tribunal users of the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) in each of the last four years.
Answered by Oliver Heald
By using the recorded title (Mr, Mrs etc) on our case management system we assess that the gender composition of tribunal users in the First-Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) in each of the last four years as per the table below. Where a title has not been stated on the appeal form, or is gender-neutral, the figures are recorded as not known:
|
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which courts requiring the payment of fees operate a fee remission system.
Answered by Oliver Heald
Our courts and tribunals play a critical role in our society and it is vital we preserve the principle of access to justice by providing a properly funded service.
It is right that those who use the court and tribunal system should pay more to relieve the burden on the taxpayer.
At every stage we have sought to protect the most vulnerable who cannot afford to pay a fee by ensuring that a system of fee remissions, exemptions or waivers is in place in all of HMCTS’s fee charging jurisdictions in the civil and family courts and tribunals.
In addition, the Lord Chancellor’s power to remit or reduce fees in exceptional circumstances applies across all fee charging jurisdictions.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what fees were levied for an appeal to each of the seven chambers of the First-tier Tribunal as of (a) 1 January 2010, (b) 1 January 2013 and (c) 1 October 2016.
Answered by Oliver Heald
The relevant fees for those Chambers in which fees are charged can be found within secondary legislation available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has made an assessment of the financial means of the users of each of the Chambers of the First-tier Tribunal by Chamber in each of the last three years.
Answered by Phillip Lee
Before introducing or increasing fees in any Chambers of the First-tier Tribunal the Government carries out full public consultation and publishes impact assessments detailing the costs and benefits of the proposed policy on all those affected.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the effect of changes to immigration and asylum tribunal fees on access to justice.
Answered by Oliver Heald
The Government believes it is right that those who use the immigration tribunals and are subject to a fee should pay the full the cost of the service they receive.
This is about making sure our courts and tribunals are properly funded, while reducing the cost to the taxpayer.
At the same time, we’re protecting the most vulnerable from any fee increase, including those who receive asylum support and cases involving children being supported or housed by a local authority.