Fees for bringing care cases to court to be abolished

Jack Straw said child protection was his first priority

Fees for bringing care and supervision cases to court are to be abolished, the justice secretary has announced.

The move follows a review to determine if local authorities were deterred from taking children into care because of the cost of taking the cases to court.

In May 2008 fees for care proceedings jumped from £150 to £4,825, followed by a sharp fall in applications.

Jack Straw said the cost was not the primary reason for the dip, but fees for cases should be dropped anyway.

The drop in applications following the rise in cost of care and supervision proceedings led to speculation the fees increase might be serving as a deterrent, potentially leaving children at risk.

The concerns prompted Justice Secretary Jack Straw to commission an independent review into the issue.

The safety and welfare of children is and always must be our priority Justice Secretary Jack Straw

Mr Straw said the findings showed fees may play a part "at the margins" but concluded "it is unlikely that children have been knowingly left at unavoidable risk by local authorities".

Mr Straw said £40m was set aside from central government for distribution to local authorities to pay for the rise in costs.

He added that the drop in applications was most likely to have been caused by local authorities familiarising themselves with new procedures that had been introduced.

Mr Straw said: "The safety and welfare of children is and always must be our priority.

"My decision today means that local authorities can now be certain that they have the £40m funding for the next financial year to pay for the court proceedings necessary to keep children from harm."

From April 2011 local authorities will no longer have to pay the fees when initiating care proceedings. Current funding arrangements run out at the end of March next year.