Written question asked by James Brokenshire (Conservative) on Wednesday, 29 October 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 3 November 2008. It was answered by Lord Wills (Labour) on Wednesday, 5 November 2008 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Enforcement: Per Capita Costs

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what mechanisms are in place to recover the costs of (a) enforcement and (b) other activities borne by his Department following the implementation of new legislation sponsored by other departments.

Answer: It is Government policy that all Departments and agencies exercising statutory powers and making rules with a general effect on others should produce an impact assessment (IA). The basic aim of IAs is that those proposing new policies or arrangements should take account of all resulting costs, including those falling on others inside or outside central Government.The Ministry of Justice has its own procedures to control these ““downstream costs”” from other Government Departments' legislative programmes in recent years. The Ministry of Justice will not authorise clearance at Cabinet Committee level, without a reassurance that agreement on resulting court (tribunals and judiciary) and legal aid costs has been achieved, beforehand.

Secondary information