§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take steps to collect information on the varying levels of local authority search fees and issue guidance on standardisation; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ChopeThe Lord Chancellor sets a standard fee for statutory searches of local land charges registers. In addition, local authorities supply answers to supplementary inquiries, under a voluntary agreement between the local authority associations and the Law Society. It is for authorities themselves to decide what fees to charge for this service. Information about the fees charged for processing supplementary inquiries is available from the Law Society, which publishes details from time to time in its gazette.