This Part applies for the purposes of determining whether an individual qualifies for civil legal services under Part 1 of the Act in accordance with section 11(1)(a).

Subject to regulation 5, the Director must determine whether the individual's financial resources are such that the individual is eligible for civil legal services in accordance with these Regulations.

In this regulation—

• F32“approved prospective adoptive parent” means an individual who has received notification from a local authority or an adoption agency that they have decided to approve the prospective adopter as suitable to adopt a child, in accordance with the Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005 or the Adoption Agencies (Wales) Regulations 2005;

• F32“child who is looked after by a local authority” has the meaning set out in section 22 of the Children Act 1989 and section 74 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014;

• F32“foster parent” means a local authority foster parent as defined in section 105(1) of the Children Act 1989;

• F7“Mediation Information and Assessment meeting” means an assessment by a mediator of whether, in light of all the circumstances, a case is suitable for mediation;

• F7“mediator” means a mediator with whom the Lord Chancellor has made an arrangement under section 2(1) of the Act (arrangements);

• F37“parental guardianship case” means matters described in paragraph 1A of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Act (special guardianship) to the extent that the individual to whom civil legal services may be provided—

  1. a

     is the parent of, or has parental responsibility for, the child who is or would be the subject of the order; and

  2. b

     opposes the order,

  but does not include appeals from final orders made under section 14A of the Children Act 1989;

• F37“parental placement and adoption case” means matters described in paragraph (1)(i) of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Act (care, supervision and protection of children) to the extent that they relate to a placement order or an adoption order under section 21 or 46 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 where the individual to whom civil legal services may be provided—

  1. a

     is the parent of, or has parental responsibility for, the child who is or would be the subject of the placement order or, as the case may be, the adoption order; and

  2. b

     opposes the placement order, or as the case may be, the adoption order,

  but does not include appeals from final orders made under either of those provisions under the Adoption and Children Act 2002;

• F37“parental responsibility” has the same meaning as in the Children Act 1989;

• F30“relevant determination” means—

  1. a

     an exceptional case determination as described in section 10(3) of the Act to the extent that it relates to an inquest; or

  2. b

     a wider public interest determination as described in section 10(5) of the Act.

• F9“relevant mediation session” means the acting of a mediator at a mediation session (“the session”) which is held on or after 3rd November 2014 and—

  1. a

     the session is a single session taking place following a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting; or

  2. b

     where the session is part of a multi session, the session is the initial mediation session taking place following a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting,

  and for the purposes of this definition, “single session” and “multi session” have the same meanings as F50in the contracts named the Standard Civil Contract 2010 and Standard Civil Contract 2024 between the Lord Chancellor and a provider of civil legal services under Part 1 of the Act;

• “relevant tribunal” means—

  1. a

     the Health, Education and Social Care Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal M10; or

  2. b

     the Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales M11;

• “special Children Act 1989 case” means F14any matter described in paragraph 1(1)(a), (b), (c) or (k) (care supervision and protection of children) of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Act, to the extent that it relates to any of the following provisions of the Children Act 1989 F15or, where specified, the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014—

  1. a

     section 25 (use of accommodation for restricting liberty) M12, to the extent that the individual to whom civil legal services may be provided is the child who is or would be the subject of the order;

  2. aa

     F16section 119 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (use of accommodation for restricting liberty), to the extent that the individual to whom civil legal services may be provided is the child who is or would be the subject of the order;

  3. b

     section 31, to the extent that the individual to whom civil legal services may be provided is the child who is or would be the subject of the order, that child's parent or other person with parental responsibility for that child;

  4. c

     section 43 (child assessment orders), to the extent that the individual to whom civil legal services may be provided is the child who is or would be the subject of the order, that child's parent or other person with parental responsibility for that child;

  5. d

     section 44 (orders for emergency protection of children), to the extent that the individual to whom civil legal services may be provided is the child who is or would be the subject of the order, that child's parent or other person with parental responsibility for that child; or

  6. e

     section 45 (duration of emergency protection orders and other supplemental provisions) M13, to the extent that the individual to whom civil legal services may be provided is the child who is or would be the subject of the order, that child's parent or other person with parental responsibility for that child,

  but does not include appeals from final orders made under any of those provisions of the Children Act 1989 F17or, as the case may be, section 119 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014; F33...

• F32“staying put arrangement” has the meaning in section 23CZA of the Children Act 1989;

• “TPIM proceedings” are the proceedings listed at (b) to (g) of the definition of “TPIM proceedings” given in section 30(1) of the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011 F34; and

• F32“young person” has the meaning in section 83 of the Children and Families Act 2014.

For the purpose of paragraph (1)(m), an individual is a member of another individual’s family if their relationship is as described in section 10(6) of the Act.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

This regulation does not apply to any applications to which regulation 5 or 6 applies.

Subject to paragraph (5), where the gross monthly income of the individual exceeds £2,657, the Director must determine that the individual's financial resources are such that the individual is not eligible for civil legal services.

Where the individual has more than four dependent children in respect of whom the individual receives child benefit, the sum referred to in paragraph (4) must be increased by £222 in respect of the fifth and each subsequent child.

In this regulation “child benefit” means child benefit under section 141 M29 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 or section 137 M30 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992.

This regulation has effect subject to regulations 5, 6 and 7.

Except where paragraph (3) applies, where an individual's monthly disposable income does not exceed £733 and the individual's disposable capital does not exceed £8,000, the Director must determine that the individual's financial resources are such that the individual is eligible for civil legal services.

Where this regulation applies, the Director may, if the Director considers it equitable to do so, disapply the eligibility limits in regulations 7 and 8.