Legal news update
The huge increases in care proceedings fees paid by local authorities since May 2008 leave vulnerable children at greater risk of harm, lawyers say.
The government pledged to implement the increases proposed in its consultation paper Public Law Family Fees which sees court fees for care proceedings rise from £150 to £4,000.
Resolution chief executive Karen MacKay says that although the government has set aside £40m to help local authorities with the increase, this was not ring-fenced, meaning the welfare of many children might be compromised by financial considerations.
“The worry is that local authorities will run out of money to take non-emergency cases to court. This may mean leaving a child with neglectful parents or encouraging parents to agree to the child being voluntarily accommodated temporarily instead of issuing proceedings,” she says.
She adds that if local authorities consider compromises instead of issuing court proceedings as a way of avoiding increased costs, “vulnerable children will be put at risk and denied access to justice”.
The Law Society says it is fundamentally opposed to the government’s policy of full cost pricing to meet the costs of the civil and family courts, which provide a benefit for all society.
A spokesperson says: “There is currently overrecovery in relation to the civil courts, and this should be fed back into the system. There is also a strong case for public funding to support the work of the family courts in cases concerning the protection and welfare of children.”
