Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions his Department has had with the Home Office on the issue of fees payable to HM Courts & Tribunals Service across the range of civil applications that are made by police forces.

The Ministry of Justice works closely with all government departments, including the Home Office, on the matter of fees payable by public authorities to HM Courts & Tribunals Service in civil and family proceedings; and will continue to do so. It is right that we seek to recover a contribution towards the costs of providing HMCTS services from court and tribunal users - including public authorities - where they can afford to do so. These contributions are used to fund a more effective and efficient courts service and support access to justice. In 2019/20, there was a net fee income of £724m against the £2bn running costs of HMCTS.