Courts and Tribunals Fees

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for the spirit in which he made his contribution. I am a frie...

Will my hon. Friend tell us whether we have yet received that report?

No, we have not, and I have to say that we used quite strong language about that in our report, b...

Surely the Ministry of Justice should not be making a profit out of justice. Getting rid of tribu...

We do not go so far as to say that it follows that there should never be fees in any particular c...

I am grateful to the distinguished Chair of the Justice Committee for allowing me to intervene on...

That is why we made the point that we need to have a much better evidence base before we go forwa...

I commend the hon. Gentleman on many of the recommendations in the report, but—as I would, I supp...

Simply that there was no compelling evidence presented to us to the contrary. We followed the evi...

I, too, welcome the work undertaken by the Justice Committee, of which I am a member. I am also g...

Does my right hon. Friend concur with trade union reports, which have found that women and black ...

That is an important point. Women are more likely to be in low-paid jobs and there is employment ...

It is a great pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Delyn (Mr Hanson) and my hon. Friend t...

I am pleased to be called to speak in this important debate. I start by declaring an interest: my...

Much of the preliminary work on court and tribunal fee reviews was carried out in the early days ...

The hon. Gentleman says that 5% is significant, but we are talking about falls of 70%. If he is g...

I am coming on to alternative ways of funding. The starting point is to get cost recovery and the...

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that if the employer is given an unfair financial position or adva...

The hon. Lady talks about unfair advantage, but I am not sure how she defines it, particularly if...

Will my hon. Friend comment on our specific proposal that there should be an uprating of the remi...

It is useful to look at that, perhaps along with a wider review of the way in which remissions ar...

This debate is apparently about courts and tribunal fees. It is unfortunate that this Government’...

I agree with the hon. Lady. Organisations such as citizens advice bureaux or law centres in Coven...

I absolutely appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s point: this is nothing to do with a justice agenda; ...

Order. For clarity, I should tell the House and the hon. Lady that she is perfectly in order. She...

I thank you enormously, Madam Deputy Speaker, for that supportive comment.

Regarding employ...

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak and to follow such experienced and learned speakers fr...

I shall start by declaring that I practised as an employment solicitor for many years before I en...

It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Justin Madder...

May I first agree with the deserved compliments to the Chair of the Justice Committee, the hon. M...

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this debate, albeit at the last minute. I rise to s...

I rise to speak as a member of the Justice Committee, whose report we are considering. I wish to ...

I shall focus on three key points that are essential to this debate—the fundamental principle of ...

Order. I have let this go a few times. When the hon. Lady says “you”, she is addressing the Chair...

I am sorry, Madam Deputy Speaker. If the Minister addressed each of those points in turn, I would...

Where will you get the money?

The Minister proves my point: budget deficit reduction should never come above access to justice....

It is a pleasure to respond for the Opposition. I am following in the footsteps of a very learned...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will not be giving way because there is limited time and I want to give the Minister as much ti...

I congratulate the shadow Justice Secretary, the hon. Member for Leeds East (Richard Burgon), on ...

In coming to that conclusion, has the Department carried out research into or a survey on the cos...

My hon. Friend raises a perfectly legitimate point. If he is willing to be patient, I will write ...

When will the Minister publish the impact assessment that the Committee has asked for?

I will come on to that, if the right hon. Gentleman will bear with me for a few moments, because ...

If the Minister will forgive me for saying so, his predecessor told us in February that he hoped ...

I thank the Select Committee Chairman, who is being as tenacious and assiduous as ever. We are in...

Will the Minister give way?

I am going to make a bit more progress. I have been given some time, and I have given way to hon....

Could the Minister tell us the cost of administering the employment tribunal fees? There is a mis...

My understanding, off the top of my head, is that it was £71 million. I will come back to the hon...

Will the Minister give way?

I am going to finish, because of the second debate. Fee increases are never popular, but at every...

With the leave of the House, I will briefly respond to the debate. It has been a thoughtful debat...