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Family Proceedings Fees (Amendment No. 2) Order 2005 Magistrates’ Courts FeesOrder 2005

My Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, for this opportunity to express concern about the effect of these orders. First, I share the noble Lord’s concern about the effect that the massive increase in court fees will have on low-income families who seek redress through the family courts. As has already been pointed out, under the new fee system, parents who try to secure a contact order with their child must now pay a court fee of £175, which is a huge rise from £30. Such parents may return to the court time and time again. In the consultation paper, which was published last September, the Government said that, of course, many applicants would not be required to pay the fees because they would qualify for legal aid or fee exemption or be granted remission. But the eligibility requirements for public funding of such cases are set at such a level that only those applicants with a very low income would benefit. That would not cover the majority of people on low and middle incomes. Contact orders are not the only remedy that will be affected by these fee increases. As we have heard, a fee for a divorce petition will now be as much as £300, a substantial increase from £210. Costs of applications for residence and parental responsibility orders have also increased. It is hard to see how that can be in the interest of family justice. It is also hard to see how that can be consistent with government policy to support parents to have contact with their children where it is safe to do so. I am also concerned about the impact that these fee increases will have on the Legal Aid Fund. The Law Society has pointed out that much of the estimated additional income generated by these fee increases would fall on the Legal Aid Fund. Under their impact assessment, the Government estimated that approximately £800,000 of the proposed increases will fall on legal aid, mainly in the public and private law family work. Can the Minister confirm that the Government still stand by that estimate, and what guarantee can he give that these increases will not greatly exceed the impact assessment already given? The legal aid budget is already under massive pressure. It is deeply concerning that these fee increases will only add to that pressure. The difficulties that local authorities face in relation to cases involving children are widely recognised. Fees under Part 4 of the Children Act fall, for the most part, on local authorities, which are responsible for issuing care proceedings. Again, the Government’s impact assessment says that the increase in fees in public law childcare cases is worth an extra £1.4 million per year, spread across 199 local authorities. Will the Minister confirm that estimate? Will he guarantee that those fee increases will not affect the ability of local authorities to provide services for vulnerable children, who are most in need of protection? I recognise that it is in the public interest that our Court Service is well resourced and that the litigant should shoulder some of the cost of using the service. But it is important that all efficiency-saving options have been explored fully in relation to the Court Service rather than having immediate recourse to full cost recovery from those who use it. Will the Minister explain what other efficiency-saving measures have been considered; and does he consider that recourse to making the litigant pay more to cover the costs of the Court Service should be a last resort?