Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of litigants having to turn to third-party funders to meet the cost of issuing proceedings.

A variety of products have been available for some time to assist different types of litigant with the costs of claims, including court fees, such as after the event insurance.

Third party litigation funding is typically used as a form of funding in very high value commercial litigation.

Support for paying court fees is available for people bringing courts and tribunals proceedings through the Help with Fees scheme, subject to meeting the capital and income tests. Under this scheme, those who qualify may have their court fees remitted in part or in full.