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Straw abolishes court fees for care cases

1 min read Social Care
Justice Secretary Jack Straw has announced that fees of up to 5,000 incurred by local authorities to bring care cases to court are to be scrapped, following an independent review into the system.

The announcement comes after the publication of Francis Plowden's independent review into court fees, which was commissioned following a recommendation in Lord Laming's report into child protection in England.

Laming asked that a review be undertaken into whether court fees were preventing local authorities from starting care and supervision proceedings.

In a written ministerial statement Straw said: "As part of the review, Mr Plowden considered how budgets were allocated and managed within any local authority area, including how and by whom decisions regarding issuing care proceedings were made.

"He believes that, at the margins, resource issues, including fees, can play a part in determining when care proceedings are initiated, but concludes that it is unlikely that children have been knowingly left at unavoidable risk by local authorities. He therefore recommends that these fees should be abolished."

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