I was alarmed to learn of the government’s recent decision not to abolish the court fees payable by local authorities when commencing care proceedings.

In his report following the Baby P case, Lord Laming called for these fees to be reviewed. A review followed which recommended abolition of these fees. Yet without any consultation or proper justification the government has now decided to ignore this recommendation.

This decision will not save public money. All it will do is transfer taxpayers’ money from one public pot (that of local authority children’s services) into another (the courts service), and in the process waste public funds on the administration involved in raising and collecting the fees.

More importantly, this decision will not serve the interests of vulnerable children. It will continue to raise the suspicion that decisions by local authorities whether or not to commence care proceedings are taken for financial reasons.

When accompanied by significant spending cuts to the budgets of local authority children’s services and to all parts of the family justice system, I am fearful that this poor decision is yet another example of the downgrading of child protection in this country.

Graham Cole, chair, Solicitors in Local Government child care lawyers group