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A huge backlog of cases at family courts is harming children, according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO).
The report finds that just under 50,000 cases – including 10,121 involving children being taken into care and 37,541 related to custody disputes – are waiting to be heard. In the worst instances, around 4,000 children have waited up to two years for their case to be heard, due to insufficient court facilities and administrative delays.
The NAO reveals that the Coalition Government in 2014 introduced a statutory time limit of 26 weeks to resolve most public family law cases started by local authorities in England. That legal deadline has not been met since it was introduced 11 years ago. Private family cases, meanwhile, have no maximum legal deadline.
Delays can escalate when evidence or assessments have to be updated, and associated costs increase. Between 2018 and 2022, average legal aid spending per local authority case doubled from around £6,000 to £12,000. This represents an annual increase of £314 million in legal aid costs.
“Children may experience a lack of stability, disrupting friendships and education and creating anxiety,” the report states. “Parents are also affected by delays, which can cause increased tension between parties and financial strain. Delays can mean less or no contact with children for non-resident parents for extended periods.”
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Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee, said: “Too many children are suffering as a result of delays to family court proceedings, which are currently still far too long. The longer a case remains unresolved, the more likely it is that there are further delays – increasing the risk of harm to children and driving up public costs.”
The report highlights regional disparities in how long it takes to hear cases. London is the worst-performing area, with local authority and private custody cases both taking over a year to be resolved. Family custody cases also take more than a year in Sussex and Somerset. This compares with 24 weeks for public cases and 18 weeks for private cases in Wales.
There has been some reduction in the backlog since 2021, when hearings were suspended due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The NAO also found that the Government does not know the total cost to the taxpayer of hearing family court cases, as responsibility is split across four departments – the Ministry of Justice, the Department for Education, HM Courts and Tribunals Service, and the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass).
By auditing all four, the NAO calculated that the Government is spending £1.8 billion a year on the family justice system.
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: “The Government has a range of initiatives to improve family justice services, and the number of children waiting for court decisions is reducing. But many cases still take too long to complete and further action is needed to remove the barriers to a more efficient system, including poor quality data and fragmented decision-making.”
A Government spokesperson told Byline Times:
“We inherited a justice system in crisis and recognise that delays children and families are facing have a real impact.
“We are working hard to improve their experience in the family courts further by expanding the successful Pathfinder pilot, which has already reduced case times by 11 weeks, and investing £500 million in early intervention. Cases are now moving faster, and backlogs are lower than before the pandemic.”