Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which men’s or fathers’ organisations Cafcass has consulted in the development of its domestic‑abuse guidance, safeguarding practice, and private‑law policy frameworks; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the balance of stakeholder representation in that engagement.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Over the last two years as Cafcass has been developing its domestic abuse policy and updating its guidance, it has worked with key partners, including fathers’ groups.
In addition to this, Cafcass works with external organisations to support the development of its domestic abuse policy and the child impact and assessment framework. This includes engagement through the Domestic Abuse Practice Reference Group. This group, established in November 2023, includes specialist domestic abuse expertise and individuals with lived experience. The group is co‑chaired by the Family Justice Young People’s Board and the domestic abuse charity SafeLives. SafeLives is a charity focused on survivors of domestic abuse regardless of the gender of either the victim or the perpetrator.
Cafcass works in partnership with SafeLives, including through seconded specialist advisers, to inform ongoing practice improvement. The Government has not undertaken an assessment of the adequacy of the balance of Cafcass’ stakeholder representation.
Senior leaders engage regularly with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and her team. As part of its commitment to learning from practice, Cafcass managers and leaders will meet with adults and children in proceedings if it is considered appropriate. This could include as part of complaints resolution, audit feedback and/or in response to an incident where the quality of practice is considered to have been less than good.
Neither Cafcass nor the Ministry of Justice has entered into any contracts, awarded grants, or commissioned research projects in connection with the revision of domestic abuse practice frameworks since 2016.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which external organisations Cafcass engages with in the development of its domestic‑abuse guidance and practice frameworks; and whether this includes any women’s advocacy groups or specialist women’s services.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Over the last two years as Cafcass has been developing its domestic abuse policy and updating its guidance, it has worked with key partners, including fathers’ groups.
In addition to this, Cafcass works with external organisations to support the development of its domestic abuse policy and the child impact and assessment framework. This includes engagement through the Domestic Abuse Practice Reference Group. This group, established in November 2023, includes specialist domestic abuse expertise and individuals with lived experience. The group is co‑chaired by the Family Justice Young People’s Board and the domestic abuse charity SafeLives. SafeLives is a charity focused on survivors of domestic abuse regardless of the gender of either the victim or the perpetrator.
Cafcass works in partnership with SafeLives, including through seconded specialist advisers, to inform ongoing practice improvement. The Government has not undertaken an assessment of the adequacy of the balance of Cafcass’ stakeholder representation.
Senior leaders engage regularly with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and her team. As part of its commitment to learning from practice, Cafcass managers and leaders will meet with adults and children in proceedings if it is considered appropriate. This could include as part of complaints resolution, audit feedback and/or in response to an incident where the quality of practice is considered to have been less than good.
Neither Cafcass nor the Ministry of Justice has entered into any contracts, awarded grants, or commissioned research projects in connection with the revision of domestic abuse practice frameworks since 2016.
Asked by: Joy Morrissey (Conservative - Beaconsfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions his Department has had with fathers’ advocacy groups on the practices of CAFCASS.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government engages with a wide range of stakeholders across the family justice sector to inform policy development.
Further information on meetings between Ministers, senior officials and external organisations is published in the Department’s quarterly transparency returns, in accordance with the Government’s transparency requirements. These are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/moj-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.
Asked by: Joy Morrissey (Conservative - Beaconsfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of cases involving CAFCASS resulted in recommendations for primary residence with (a) mothers and (b) fathers in the most recent year for which data is available.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The requested information is not held centrally by the Department or Cafcass. It may be held in court records, but to determine that and obtain it would require an analysis of individual case files at a disproportionate cost.
We are committed to ensuring that the family justice system delivers safe outcomes that support children to succeed and thrive. The welfare checklist ensures that courts consider, among other things, the quality of the child’s relationship with each parent when making decisions about who a child should live or otherwise spend time with, irrespective of the gender of the parent. Family Courts will continue to support children having a relationship with both of their parents where such involvement is safe, meaningful and positive for the child.
Asked by: Joy Morrissey (Conservative - Beaconsfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what comparative assessment he has made of the adequacy of case outcomes involving the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service for (a) fathers and (b) mothers.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The requested information is not held centrally by the Department or Cafcass. It may be held in court records, but to determine that and obtain it would require an analysis of individual case files at a disproportionate cost.
We are committed to ensuring that the family justice system delivers safe outcomes that support children to succeed and thrive. The welfare checklist ensures that courts consider, among other things, the quality of the child’s relationship with each parent when making decisions about who a child should live or otherwise spend time with, irrespective of the gender of the parent. Family Courts will continue to support children having a relationship with both of their parents where such involvement is safe, meaningful and positive for the child.
Asked by: Joy Morrissey (Conservative - Beaconsfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has assessed trends in the level of regional variations in recommendations made by CAFCASS including differing outcomes for fathers.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The requested information is not held centrally by the Department or Cafcass. It may be held in court records, but to determine that and obtain it would require an analysis of individual case files at a disproportionate cost.
We are committed to ensuring that the family justice system delivers safe outcomes that support children to succeed and thrive. The welfare checklist ensures that courts consider, among other things, the quality of the child’s relationship with each parent when making decisions about who a child should live or otherwise spend time with, irrespective of the gender of the parent. Family Courts will continue to support children having a relationship with both of their parents where such involvement is safe, meaningful and positive for the child.
Asked by: Joy Morrissey (Conservative - Beaconsfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department collects data on the recommendations made by CAFCASS disaggregated by the gender of each parent.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The requested information is not held centrally by the Department or Cafcass. It may be held in court records, but to determine that and obtain it would require an analysis of individual case files at a disproportionate cost.
We are committed to ensuring that the family justice system delivers safe outcomes that support children to succeed and thrive. The welfare checklist ensures that courts consider, among other things, the quality of the child’s relationship with each parent when making decisions about who a child should live or otherwise spend time with, irrespective of the gender of the parent. Family Courts will continue to support children having a relationship with both of their parents where such involvement is safe, meaningful and positive for the child.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many individuals were assessed or monitored by the Joint Extremism Unit in each calendar year from 2017 to 2025 inclusive, broken down by the extremism or risk classification category used internally by the Unit.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Data on the number of people serving custodial sentences for terrorist offences are published by the Home Office as part of its quarterly statistical bulletin Operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation: Arrests, outcomes, and stop and search, Great Britain, which is available at: Operation of police powers under TACT 2000, to December 2025 - GOV.UK
Details of the risk classification are withheld on the grounds of national security.
The Joint Extremism Unit also monitors and assesses individuals who have not been convicted of terrorism or terrorism-connected offences, but nevertheless represent terrorist risk. Data regarding these individuals are also withheld on national security grounds.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in each of the last 3 years, how many instances of delayed hearings and trials have been caused by the CPS giving insufficient time for the defence to consider evidence shared as part of disclosure.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The specific information requested is not held. However, data on trials that have been ineffective due to the prosecution failing to disclose unused evidence is published quarterly in the Criminal Courts Accredited Official Statistics. The latest available data can be found in the ‘Trial Effectiveness at the Criminal Courts tool’ here: Criminal court statistics quarterly: October to December 2025 - GOV.UK.
The Government is carefully considering the recommendations on the disclosure regime made by Sir Brian Leveson as part of the Independent Review of Criminal Courts, and by Jonathan Fisher KC in his Independent Review of Disclosure Offences.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the First-tier Tribunal in resolving park home disputes.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
No specific assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the First-tier Tribunal Property Chamber in resolving park home disputes. However, the Ministry of Justice regularly considers the performance of tribunals more widely. Statistics are published on a quarterly basis and can be found at: htpps://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics