Rescare has been notified that The Ministry of Justice has launched a consultation on Fee Remissions, to run from 18th April to 16th May.
“This consultation paper sets our proposals for reform of the fee remissions system, which ensures that access to justice is maintained for those individuals on lower incomes who would otherwise have difficultly paying a fee to use court or tribunal services.
The objective of these reform proposals is to create a single system of fee remissions (waivers) for all fee paying courts and tribunals which is simple to use, more cost efficient and better targeted to those who need it the most.
The consultation is aimed at groups and individuals who have an interest in access to justice in the civil courts in England and Wales, a range of tribunals which operate in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the UK wide Gender Recognition Panel and the UK Supreme Court.”
Full details are available on the Justice website. Views may be given via an ‘online survey’. The target audience includes ‘citizens’ and ‘charities’. So you may make an individual response. Rescare is now formulating its own response on behalf of its members.
Please note that this consultation includes the fee remission system of The Court of Protection (COP).
Currently, the COP does not use the same remission system as the rest of Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service. So included in the proposals are statements such as this: “Under the current remission system applied in most courts, third parties are not allowed to apply for a fee remission on behalf of an individual using their own details. The only exception to this rule applies to a person acting for or representing a child or a person who lacks mental capacity (‘P’). As now, any person acting for or representing a child or ‘P’ in their capacity as a Litigation Friend, Parent or Guardian, would be able to apply for remission using their own details. However, in the Court of Protection, when a case concerns the health and welfare of ‘P’ (as apposed to property or financial affairs) ‘P’ is treated as the applicant. This means that the remission application is assessed on the income and disposable capital of ‘P’ rather than the third party applicant. The Government does not intend to amend this practice.”
It is complicated: we recommend that anyone with an interest in the COP and fees, e.g. some who has applied for deputyship or is considering doing so, read the full Consultation Document via the link on the consultation webpage. This document coincidentally gives the best description that we are aware of, of how Court of Protection fees are currently administered.