Government tables law to ban referral fees

The government has implemented its pledge to curb referral fees.

A referral fee ban has been included in amendments to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill by justice secretary Ken Clarke.

The bill will be debated in parliament next week.

The ABI has praised the move. A spokesman said: “We are pleased that the government has seen through its announcement to ban referral fees.

“Everyone now needs to work towards seeing the reforms implemented as quickly as possible to ensure that we can all benefit from a more cost efficient, speedier and simpler compensation system.”