Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how cases are awaiting review at the Senior Courts Costs Office; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce this backlog and the processing time of thosecases.

The Senior Courts Costs Office (SCCO) assess bills of cost arising from proceedings in the High Court, London County Courts and Tribunals and the Court of Protection.

All legal aid work and all bills of costs arising from party v party cases which are below £50,000 are assessed within 6 weeks of receipt. There are no outstanding cases within these categories awaiting assessment.

Bills from party v party cases which are over £50,000 must be referred to a Judge. All cases within this category have been listed for a hearing.

As at the 14 April 2023 the number of Court of Protection bills waiting for assessment was 5,975. This is made of up 5,544 bills under £35,000 with waiting times of 38 weeks and 431 bills with a value of between £35,000 and £100,000 with waiting times of 47 weeks. Court of Protection bills in excess of £100,000, which are very small in number, are listed for hearing before a Judge.

Court of Protection Rules enable solicitors to reimburse themselves for work undertaken in the first three-quarters of the year up to a maximum of 75% of the estimated annual charges. At the end of the year the bill is submitted to the SCCO for assessment. The total figure approved by the SCCO is adjusted to reflect any such payments on account.

The SCCO is running a pilot in which professional deputies appointed by the Court of Protection, their legal representatives and other legal professionals involved in Court of Protection cases, may file their bills in respect of general management and other applications electronically where the relevant authority has been obtained from the Court of Protection. The pilot of this electronic and expedited process is due to conclude on 28 April 2023.

HMCTS is committed to reducing the time taken to deal with Court of Protection Bills and has also reallocated resource to help with this.