A consultation on proposals to make changes to civil court fees, particularly in enforcement processes and to make changes to the magistrates' court fees order.

Link to consultation document:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/civil-court-fees-2008-consultation.htm

General introduction to consultation:

In 2007/2008, the cost of running the civil and family courts in England and Wales was £607m. Of this, almost 78% was funded through court fees worth around £472m. The fees are prescribed under statutory powers and must comply with the general policy principles for statutory fee-charging services, as set out in Treasury's "Managing Public Money – Charges and Levies".

Court fees should be set, so far as possible, at levels that reflect the full cost of the process involved. The scheme of fee remissions exists to ensure that access to justice for the less well-off is protected.   The underlying fee policy of full-cost recovery, (apart from the cost of remissions) and the need to raise income to meet financial targets, are not in question in this consultation.

The proposals in the consultation paper aim to bring civil fees back to full-cost levels and increase magistrates’ fees to 100% cost-recovery levels for the first time. It is proposed to introduce:

• Increases in civil and family fees, particularly those for enforcement processes, in order to maintain full-cost recovery for civil business and keep the relevant family fees aligned with the civil equivalents;  
• A simplified fees order for the magistrates’ court that increases fees to bring cost-recovery levels up from around 55% to 100%.

Future steps include:

• Developing a package of family fee increases, to include a review of the financial fee structure for private family cases, to bring them to full cost;
• Further work to improve the costing system and to create alternative ways in which fees can be paid in order to reduce administrative costs for users and HMCS;
• Development of hearing fees, including the possibility of daily hearing fees in large commercial cases.

Consultation Questions:

Q.1 Do you have any comments on the proposed fee changes in the higher courts, bearing in mind that they take account of the work involved and the cost of each process?

Q.2 In particular, do you agree with the proposal to remove the financial value of the warrant as a consideration of the court fee?

Q.3 Do you agree that the proposed structural changes to the magistrates’ court fees order achieves clarity and will capture all the processes it is intended to?

Q.4 Do you have any other comments on possible adjustments we could make to the magistrates’ fees order in order to make it more streamlined and easier for users to understand?

Downloads

• Consultation in PDF format
• ‘IRRV Civil Courts Fees Response’  

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This consultation seeks views on the Government's proposals for the ballot and administration arrangements for county councils, unitary district councils and the Greater London Authority to levy a supplement on the business rate. Authorities will be able to use the proceeds to fund additional projects to promote the economic development of their local areas.

Link to website

DOWNLOAD

Business rate supplements: draft proposals on ballot and administration arrangements - Consultation

IRRV RESPONSE - Business rate supplements: draft proposals on ballot and administration arrangements - Consultation

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