Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department takes to ensure that people on low incomes are not denied access to the courts for financial reasons.

The Ministry of Justice has a fee remission scheme in place called Help with Fees for court or tribunal users who are on low incomes and cannot afford a court fee. This scheme considers several factors including the applicant’s income, savings, the size of the fee and whether they are receiving any benefits. Successful applicants may receive a partial or total remission. Additionally, if the applicant doesn’t qualify for Help with Fees they may ask court staff to exercise the Lord Chancellor's exceptional power to remit fees. This ensures no one is denied access to justice because they can’t afford a court or tribunal fee.

Furthermore, we have consulted on changes to the Legal Aid Means Test. The consultation proposed a broad suite of changes to the civil and criminal legal aid means test, with the aim of ensuring access to justice. These included uprating the income and capital thresholds for legal aid eligibility. In particula, we have proposed increasing the lower disposable income threshold for civil legal aid by 97%from £315 to £622 per month – this will particularly help legal aid applicants with the lowest incomes, who are unable to contribute towards their legal aid. Our proposals will significantly increase income thresholds for all types of legal aid. This will ensure that legal aid is accessible to all who need it.