Guideline hourly rates is to be the first issue put under the spotlight by the Ministry of Justice's new ad hoc advisory committee on civil costs, the Gazette's sister publication, Litigation Funding, has revealed.


In his first interview since being appointed in September, the committee's chairman, economist Professor Stephen Nickell, said they were going 'to collect information on the sort of rates that solicitors charge at various levels for a variety of activities' ahead of making a 'sensible and defensible' decision early next year.



This will not necessarily be just the activities to which the guideline rates apply, but also related activities, such as employment tribunal work. The committee will also be recommending methods of uprating the figures.



Nickell said he was 'acutely aware of the dangers of [the committee] being seen as allied to one side or another', but added that 'in my previous incarnation in public life [as a member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee], I have demonstrated my independence.'



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