The government must invest in the family court system to provide the public service that children and families deserve, demands the Law Society of England and Wales.
Tens of thousands of children need decisions about their future to be made without delay, and people need better access to advice and representation so that they don’t have to represent themselves in court (litigants in person). Investment in civil legal aid now would save the courts and the government time and money in the long run.
According to the latest figures published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), there were 26,608 individual children involved in new family cases between July and September 2024. The Law Society welcomed some improvements in processing times, but the average of more than nine months to reach a final order is still unacceptable. Law Society president Richard Atkinson said:
“As we approach the festive season, it is heartbreaking that thousands of children will spend the holiday uncertain about their future.
Delays as children await a decision about who they will live with or who they can have contact with can cause significant harm to their wellbeing. Children should not be paying the cost of the government’s failure to invest in fixing the family court system.
Cuts to civil legal aid have increased court backlogs over the last decade, as well as the number of litigants in person (LiPs). This also meant that fewer people have sought to resolve their legal problems out of court.
Restoring legal aid for early advice remains vital to improving the family justice system, as it would solve more cases out of court and ensure that cases that do go to trial are resolved faster and more cost-effectively.”
The MoJ has flagged concerns about data quality. Law Society president Richard Atkinson said:
“It is a matter of concern that, after having only just resolved data quality problems in relation to criminal statistics, there are now similar issues in the family statistics.
If we do not have an accurate picture of what is happening in our courts, we cannot address the problems effectively. We welcome HM Courts and Tribunals Service’s openness about these issues and hope they can be resolved swiftly.”
