Government scraps plan to drop council fees for care cases

The Ministry of Justice has reversed plans to abolish fees of up to £5,000 incurred by local authorities bringing care cases to court.

In March former Justice Secretary Jack Straw announced that local authority court fees in care cases would be stopped following an independent review by Frances Plowden, which found that fees could have some influence in whether council’s initiated care cases. The review was undertaken in response to a recommendation in Lord Laming’s review of child protection.

But junior justice minister Jonathan Djanogly has said that the change, which was due to come into effect in April 2011, will no longer happen.

He said: “I have carefully considered the decision of the former Secretary of State and believe that there is no justification that these fees should be abolished and as such they will remain.

“Francis Plowden’s review found that resource issues could play a part in determining whether proceedings were initiated, however, he only believed this occurred ‘at the margins’. He confirmed that this conclusion was based on anecdotal evidence alone and also stated that it was unlikely that children have been knowingly left at unavoidable risk by local authorities.”

The news has been met with caution from child protection campaigners.

Barnardo’s chief executive Martin Narey said: “An independent review by the previous government was sufficiently concerned that these fees could impact on decisions made by local authorities. Today’s decision needs to be scrupulously monitored and reviewed on a regular basis.”

But the Ministry of Justice has allayed fears, saying that councils have a legal duty to bring cases to court when a child is in need of protection.

A government spokesman said: “Protecting vulnerable children is paramount. Where children might be at risk from harm, councils are legally bound to investigate and put any cases before the courts as swiftly as possible.

“Each year the government provides funding to cover councils’ costs in child protection cases, with councils given the flexibility to allocate this according to local needs. This provides greater transparency of the true cost of the services they provide and enables them to better identify where pressures may lie, which can help improve services in the long term.”