FEES- THE ONLY WAY IS UP

Gove and the Govt are thinking about putting Court and Tribunal fees up again.  Indeed they are thinking of introducing fees where currently there are none:









For example:

• The general fee cap of £10,000, rising to £20,000 (but not for PI)
• A general 10% uplift on civil fees all round.
• Civil possession claim from £280 to £355.  As most of those are brought by local authorities and social housing providers, the flow of cash would be a little circular.
• General Part 23 Applications - from £50 to £100 if without notice and from £155 to £255 otherwise.
• Divorce is going up from £410 to £750; why not profit from those going through one of the worst periods of their life.
• Want to appeal to the C of A, was £235, went up to £480, in future - £528??
• Want a hearing in the Immigration Chamber of the FTT?  £280 up from £140.
• Want to challenge your landlord in the Leasehold bit of the FTT?  £2,000 for hearing, currently nil!
• Want to challenge an FOI refusal from HMG in the FTT - currently free, in future £500!
• Don't like a HMRC decision, want to appeal to the Tax Chamber of the FTT -  all currently free - fees to be introduced, up to £1000?

Thinking that all of that is a bit of a step too far....

Respond to the consultation here - https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/further-fees-proposal-consultation/supporting_documents/enhancedfeesresponseconsultationonfurtherfees.pdf 

Gove consulting on closing Bow, Lambeth, Hammersmith and Woolwich "County Courts"

A judge once told me that Bow County Court (as it was then, now - The County Court sitting at Bow (which makes no sense because it doesn't - its sits just outside Stratford...)) was the busiest civil court in Europe.  Which did not surprise me as when I used to go there regularly it was standing room only.  Probably being located in a very deprived area and having both a civil and family jurisdiction (which may well now have been hived off to the new Family Court sitting in Canary Wharf) is what did the trick.  If it were both a possession day and a family day, then it was also a total chaos, waiting around til 6pm to be seen by a stressed judge, day. MoJ want to close it and move everything to Clerkenwell and Shoreditch at Gee St (itself an amalgamation of some historic county courts.....)   Good luck C & S (and B?)....they'll be standing in the aisles and hanging from the roof on possession day..............

Lambeth is usually also about as busy as it gets and it covers a massive part of South London not

otherwise covered by Bromley, Wandsworth which is where its work is going...... and errr Woolwich, which is also being consulted upon for closure and transfer of its work to Bromley.  

Hammersmith is also up for closure with its work also going to Wandsworth to make way for Feltham Mags which is to be squeezed into Hammersmith Mags which is where Hammersmith Cty Ct is currently co-located (after its West Kensignton West London CC much loved foreunner was abolished.)  

Woolwich's work is to be packed off to Bromley (which is err, not local to Woolwich.....especially given its catchment runs into Dartford's)

Good bye to more of my favourite once daily forensic hunting grounds and perhaps more importantly, good bye to local judges dispensing local justice to the locals who did not have far to go.....

Check out the paper - it proposes the following closures, your favourites/essential local justice provider may on the list and you might want to object/protest:

London Bow County Court Feltham Magistrates’ Court Greenwich Magistrates’ Court Hammersmith County Court (formerly West London County Court) Lambeth County Court Pocock Street Tribunal Hearing Centre Richmond-upon-Thames Magistrates’ Court Tottenham Magistrates’ Court Waltham Forest Magistrates’ Court Woolwich County Court Midlands Birmingham Youth Court Burton-upon-Trent Magistrates’ Court Buxton Magistrates’ and County Court Corby Magistrates’ Court Grantham Magistrates’ Court 15 Hinckley Magistrates’ Court Kettering County Court Kettering Magistrates’ Court Sandwell Magistrates’ Court Shrewsbury Magistrates’ Court Skegness Magistrates’ Court Solihull Magistrates’ Court Stafford Magistrates’ Court Worksop Magistrates’ Court North East Consett Magistrates’ Court Halifax County Court and Family Court Halifax (Calderdale) Magistrates’ and Family Court Hartlepool Magistrates’ Court and County Court Morpeth County Court Rotherham Magistrates’ Court, County Court and Family Court Scunthorpe Magistrates’ Court, County Court and Family Court Wakefield Magistrates’ Court North West Accrington County Court Accrington Magistrates’ Court Bolton County Court and Family Court Bury Magistrates’ Court and County Court Kendal Magistrates’ Court and County Court Macclesfield County Court Macclesfield Magistrates’ Court Oldham County Court Proposal on the provision of court and tribunal estate in England and Wales Oldham Magistrates’ Court Ormskirk Magistrates’ Court and Family Court Runcorn (Halton) Magistrates’ Court St Helens Magistrates’ Court and County Court Stockport Magistrates’ Court and County Court Tameside County Court Trafford Magistrates’ Court and Altrincham County Court Warrington County Court West Cumbria Magistrates’ Court and County Court South East Aylesbury Magistrates’ Court, County Court and Family Court Basildon Social Security and Child Support Tribunal (Acorn House) Bedford and Mid Beds Magistrates’ Court and Family Court and Bedford County Court and Family Court Bicester Magistrates’ Court and Family Court Bury St. Edmunds Magistrates’ Court and Family Court and Bury St. Edmunds Crown Court Chichester Combined Court (Crown and County) Chichester Magistrates’ Court Colchester County Court and Family Court Colchester County Court Offices Dartford Magistrates’ Court Dover Magistrates’ Court Eastbourne Magistrates’ Court, County Court and Family Court Harlow Magistrates’ Court Kings Lynn County Court and Family Court Lowestoft Magistrates’ Court, County Court and Family Court Redhill Magistrates’ Court and Family Court and Reigate County Court and Family Court 17 St Albans County Court Tunbridge Wells County Court and Family Court Watford Magistrates’ Court and Family Court West Berkshire (Newbury) Magistrates’ Court South West Barnstaple Crown Court Bath Magistrates’ Court, County Court and Family Court or North Avon (Yate) Magistrates’ Court Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court Cheltenham Rivershill House Tribunal Chippenham Magistrates’ Court, Civil Court and Family Court Dorchester Crown Court Fareham Magistrates’ Court Gloucester Magistrates’ Court North Avon (Yate) Magistrates’ Court or Bath Magistrates’ Court, County Court and Family Court Stroud Magistrates’ Court Torquay Magistrates’ Court Wales Brecon Law Courts Bridgend Law Courts Carmarthen Civil, Family, Tribunal and Probate Hearing Centre Carmarthen Law Courts (The Guildhall) Dolgellau Crown and Magistrates’ Court Holyhead Magistrates’ Court Llangefni Civil and Family Court Neath and Port Talbot Civil and Family Court Pontypridd Magistrates’ Court Proposal on the provision of court and tribunal estate in England and Wales Prestatyn Magistrates’ Court Wrexham Tribunal (Rhyd Broughton)