Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of proposals to revise the costs capping scheme for environmental legal challenges on the UK's ability to meet the requirement in the EU Public Participation Directive for claimants to have prior certainty in relation to costs protection.

The Government’s proposals to revise the costs capping scheme for environmental legal challenges in England and Wales have been brought forward in light of recent developments in case law. Following those judgments the Government has made an assessment and considers there to be scope for introducing measured adjustments to the current regime within the framework of EU law, including the Public Participation Directive.