On 1st February 2024, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) published its response to the July 2023 Costs Consultation. The publication of this document coincides with amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) which come into force on 6 April 2024.

The updated FRC figures, inflated in line with the Services Producer Price Index (SPPI) and covering the period between January and October 2023, also come into force in April 2024.

The new rules include:

(i) Fixing costs on assessment – figure to be agreed (Oct 2024)

(ii) Fixing costs of Part 8 (costs only) claims – figure to be agreed (Oct 2024)

(iii) The recoverability of (a) inquest costs and (b) restoration proceedings (April)

(iv) Advocates fees on cases settled late and vacated to be amended so 100% of the fee is recoverable for claims settled / vacated on the day of trial and 75% recoverable is the claim is settled / vacated not more than 2 days before the trial in the fast track and 5 days before in the intermediate track (April)

(v) Further inflationary updating for advocacy fees will see an increase of 23.5% in Table 12 and Table 14 (April)

(vi) Early liability admission in clinical negligence claims for them to be subject to FRC (April) Additional changes provide clarity on the existing rules including what is and is not included in the ’20- page limit’ for experts reports.