The Guardian
Steep increases likely to prevent those with few resources from challenging decisions to deport them
The rises are being brought in to help pay off the Ministry of Justice’s funding deficit. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Asylum and immigration tribunal fees are set to increase by more than 500% in order to help pay off the Ministry of Justice’s funding deficit.
The proposed steep rise in application costs aimed at raising £37m a year is likely to serve as a deterrent to many, preventing those who have arrived in the UK with few resources from challenging decisions to deport them.
Basic fees in the first-tier asylum and immigration tribunals should be increased from £80 to £490 for an application for a decision just on the legal papers, according to an MoJ consultation launched on Thursday. That is more than a fivefold rise.
Fees for a full tribunal hearing should rise from £140 to £800, the MOJ suggests. An extra £455 fee is likely to be introduced to cover applications for permission to appeal to the upper tribunal against first-tier tribunal rulings.
The MoJ said it was “no longer reasonable to expect the taxpayer to fund around 75% of the costs of immigration and asylum proceedings”. Earlier this year the justice secretary, Michael Gove, announced steep increases in probate fees.
This week it was revealed that the MoJ had been forced to borrow £427m from the Treasury last year to cover the cost of a surge in sex offence trials and an unexpected shortfall in fees from other sources.
Defending the need for the latest increases, the justice minister Dominic Raab said: “We must reduce the burden on the taxpayer of running our courts and tribunals. In meeting our spending review settlement, all parts of the Ministry of Justice must contribute to the national effort to reduce the deficit and restore the government’s finances to surplus.
“The courts and tribunals service cost £1.8bn in 2014-15, but only £700m was received in income. This leaves a net cost to the taxpayer of around £1.1bn in one year alone.”
Raab acknowledged that many of the new fees already introduced would be higher than the cost of the hearings themselves. He said: “We have implemented enhanced court fees, above the cost of the proceedings to which they relate, for money claims, possession claims, general applications within civil proceedings, and divorce petitions.”
Some of the money will be used to invest in new technology for the courts. The government has promised £700m to drag the paper-reliant justice system into the computer age.
Raab added: “Our consultation proposes increasing fees in those immigration and asylum proceedings where a fee is payable so that the fee meets the costs of those proceedings in full.
“In light of the challenging financial circumstances we face we have already had to take difficult decisions … We are mindful of the fact that some applicants will face difficulties in paying these fees, so to make sure that the burden of funding the system is shared as fairly as possible we will continue to exempt from fees those in particularly vulnerable positions.”
The exemption is intended to include those who qualify for legal aid or asylum support, those who are appealing against a decision to deprive them of their citizenship and those children bringing appeals to the tribunal who are being supported by a local authority.
Children being housed by the local authority and the parents of children receiving local authority support will also be exempted.
Commenting on the proposals, Jonathan Smithers, the president of the Law Society, said: “It is fundamental to the rule of law that access to the courts and tribunals should not be determined by the ability to pay – the provision of justice should not be an accounting exercise. There is a serious risk that fee increases of 500% will prevent many people from challenging often incorrect Home Office administrative decisions about their entitlement to enter or remain in the UK.
“When employment tribunal fees were increased sharply many who had been wronged were discouraged from pursuing valid claims. Since June 2013 the number of employment tribunal cases has dropped by nearly 70% and our members have told us that many claimants with strong cases see the fee as a significant deterrent to seeking justice.
“The announcement follows recent significant increases in visa application fees which have generated additional revenue for the government.”
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: “The Tories are intent on pricing vulnerable people out of justice wherever they can find them.
“A high proportion of decisions are currently overturned on appeal.
“It would make more sense for the government to focus on getting the decision right first time round – saving time and money.”
In a separate development, the MoJ confirmed that, after losing a court of appeal challenge, it was relaxing the restrictions on the requirements victims of domestic violence face in claiming legal aid.
An MoJ spokesperson said: “We are determined to ensure victims of domestic violence can get legal aid whenever they need it. Following the court of appeal’s judgment, we have acted quickly to change the domestic violence evidence arrangements.
“We have more than doubled the original time limit for evidence – increasing it from two to five years – and introduced a provision for the assessment of evidence of financial abuse.”
