Children, families and victims of domestic abuse are being let down by ‘unacceptably long delays’ in the family courts, a grim report by the Public Accounts Committee has found
Children, families and victims of domestic abuse are being let down by “unacceptably long delays” in the family courts, a grim report by MPs has found.
And the Government “alarmingly” does not appreciate the urgent need to reform the system, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said.
MPs pointed to stats showing more than 4,000 children were involved in court cases lasting two years at the end of last year(2024),
This is despite the statutory requirement for most public law cases to be completed within 26 weeks. The PAC said a lack of district judges and social workers are contributing to delays.
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The committee’s inquiry into the family courts also raised concerns with domestic abuse cases, including a lack of expert support.
“The report finds that delays in cases weigh heavily on children, in particular for domestic abuse victims, but that government’s understanding of the differential impacts on different groups of service users, or what happens to children after court, remains poor,” the PAC said.
“Family courts were often described as complex, inefficient and difficult to navigate for families without legal support.
“The inquiry heard concerns that court staff, legal advisors and Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) staff, are poorly resourced or trained to support domestic abuse victims, and that their needs are not being met by the family justice process.”
The inquiry acknowledged that the Spending Review of June 2025 announced £2billion funding for new investments in children’s social care but said clarification was needed on how this will be spent – for example, in improving family support to help families stay together and avoid the court system.
Clive Betts, deputy chair of the PAC, said: “Alarmingly, when challenged on unacceptable waiting times in the system, government fell back on defending moderate improvements since the pandemic, rather than appreciating the urgent need for reform glaringly obvious to court users.
“Of particular concern to our inquiry was evidence that the system is not meeting the needs of domestic abuse victims.”
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