Justice Secretary Jack Straw has confirmed that fees paid by councils to bring care cases to court will be abolished following the publication of Francis Plowden's independent review into court fees last week.
In May 2008, the fees paid by local authorities for starting care or supervision proceedings rose from £150 to up to £4,825. The move was part of the government's drive to increase the proportion of court costs funded by court users in a bid to make the system self-funded and less reliant on government money.
But social workers, local authorities, lawyers and children's guardians raised concerns that such a rise in fees could, in fact, act as a disincentive to councils, leaving vulnerable children at risk.
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