Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service section 7 reports recommend shared care; and what training is given to officers of that service on (a) parental alienation and (b) equal parenting.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Cafcass does not record data on the proportion of section 7 reports that recommend shared care. This information is not recorded centrally, and the data would only be available from individual case file review at a disproportionate cost.
The Government does not recognise the concept of “parental alienation” syndrome and does not think it is capable of diagnosis. Cafcass practitioners receive mandatory training on alienating behaviours. Cafcass’ training programme includes training on the domestic abuse practice policy (introduced in 2024) and on indicators of understanding why a child does not want to spend family time with a parent guide. This training makes it clear that the first step in assessing the reasons for a child not wanting to see a parent is to consider whether domestic abuse is a factor and to explore the pattern of behaviours through a trauma-informed lens.
Cafcass’ Practice Quality Standards prioritise the safety of the child and require practitioners to assess the risks to children and the risk of future harm. They require practitioners to make certain that their recommendations regarding with whom the child spends time or lives with flow directly from a detailed assessment and analysis of the nature of any risks to the child posed by one or both parents.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time is for first hearings in private family law cases.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The average waiting time for first hearings in private family law cases is nine weeks, as at Q2 2025 (April to June 2025). This is an improvement of one week when compared to the end of Q1 2025 (January to March 2025) and a two-week reduction when compared to 2022.
Only cases with a recorded proceeded hearing are included in the calculation (receipt to hearing). 'Proceeded' cases are those where the hearing was not vacated, and the case had not closed before the hearing was due.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of Child Arrangement Orders were (a) shared care and (b) sole residency since 2019.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The requested information is not recorded centrally. The relevant data could only be obtained by an analysis of individual case files at disproportionate cost.
The welfare of the child is paramount in any decision regarding child arrangements. In determining the child’s welfare needs, the court will apply the factors set out in the ‘welfare checklist’ in the Children Act 1989. These include the ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child concerned, the impact on the child of any change in circumstances, and how capable each parent is of meeting the child’s needs. The court will also consider any harm the child has suffered or is at risk of suffering, which could include any harm from witnessing domestic abuse.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the Child Maintenance Service has received in collection fees from (a) paying and (b) receiving parents in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The table below shows collection fees received in each of the last five years, for which audited figures are available.
Collection fees | 2019/2020 | 2020/2021 | 2021/2022 | 2022/2023 | 2023/2024 |
£000 | £000 | £000 | £000 | £000 | |
(a) Paying Parent Collection Fees Received | £34,771 | £34,428 | £38,527 | £41,284 | £48,248 |
(b) Receiving Parent Collection Fees Received | £6,767 | £6,731 | £7,494 | £8,036 | £9,421 |
(a+b) Total Collection Fees Received | £41,538 | £41,159 | £46,021 | £49,319 | £57,669 |
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were employed by her Department at the rank of Chief Immigration Officer at the end of the 2015-16 financial year.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Border Force had 760 BFOs at grade CIO as of FY 2015/16.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June to Question 57910 on Legal Aid Scheme, how much the Legal Aid Agency paid in fees to Duncan Lewis LLP in (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23, (c) 2023-24, and (d) 2024-25 related to immigration and asylum cases.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The requested information can be found in the table below. Information filterable by financial year, legal aid provider, and type of legal aid can be viewed on the Provider explorer dashboard of the Legal aid provider completions and starts statistics data visualisation tool.
Financial Year | Immigration and Asylum Closed Case Expenditure – Duncan Lewis |
2021-2022 | £8,201,255 |
2022-2023 | £7,980,147 |
2023-2024 | £8,108,969 |
2024-2025 | £6,052,515 |
Duncan Lewis is the largest Legal Aid provider in the UK, currently operating across 29 offices.
Legal aid is only available in respect of immigration cases which are within the scope of legal aid as set out under Schedule 1, Part 1 of the Legal Aid and Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 and is subject to both financial eligibility and merits tests.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish a list of the (a) names and (b) locations of former airforce bases within the UK that are no longer in use by the Royal Air Force but remain part of the Ministry of Defence estate as of 1 September 2025.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
No, a historical list is not held. The Defence Disposal Database details all Ministry of Defence sites the Department plans to release when they become surplus to Defence requirements. This is published on gov.uk: Disposal database: House of Commons report - GOV.UK
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of (a) requiring secondary schools to provide at least one hour per week of (i) music, (ii) drama and (iii) art teaching and (b) abolishing arts carousel timetabling models on arts participation.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Art and design, music and drama within English are important parts of the national curriculum, and the government trusts schools to determine how best to teach all arts subjects, including teaching time.
Schools are expected to fund the teaching of arts subjects from their core budget. School funding is increasing by £3.7 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, meaning that core school budgets will total £65.3 billion.
In addition, a £76 million annual core grant is provided to 43 Music Hub partnerships to provide instrument tuition, loans, and whole-class ensemble teaching alongside £25 million for instruments and technology. From September 2026, the National Centre for Arts and Music Education will also support excellent teacher training in the arts, boost partnerships between schools and arts organisations and promote arts subjects.
The department launched the four-year music opportunities pilot in September 2024 across 12 local areas, backed by £2 million and a further £3.85 million from Arts Council England and Youth Music. The pilot supports pupils eligible for the pupil premium and others to learn how to play an instrument or sing to a high standard, including fully funded one-to-one tuition. The findings from the pilot will inform future policy on widening music opportunities.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of encouraging schools to fully fund one-to-one music tuition for pupils eligible for pupil premium funding.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Art and design, music and drama within English are important parts of the national curriculum, and the government trusts schools to determine how best to teach all arts subjects, including teaching time.
Schools are expected to fund the teaching of arts subjects from their core budget. School funding is increasing by £3.7 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, meaning that core school budgets will total £65.3 billion.
In addition, a £76 million annual core grant is provided to 43 Music Hub partnerships to provide instrument tuition, loans, and whole-class ensemble teaching alongside £25 million for instruments and technology. From September 2026, the National Centre for Arts and Music Education will also support excellent teacher training in the arts, boost partnerships between schools and arts organisations and promote arts subjects.
The department launched the four-year music opportunities pilot in September 2024 across 12 local areas, backed by £2 million and a further £3.85 million from Arts Council England and Youth Music. The pilot supports pupils eligible for the pupil premium and others to learn how to play an instrument or sing to a high standard, including fully funded one-to-one tuition. The findings from the pilot will inform future policy on widening music opportunities.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to increase dedicated arts funding for schools to ensure (a) music, (b) drama and (c) art are delivered as core subjects.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Art and design, music and drama within English are important parts of the national curriculum, and the government trusts schools to determine how best to teach all arts subjects, including teaching time.
Schools are expected to fund the teaching of arts subjects from their core budget. School funding is increasing by £3.7 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, meaning that core school budgets will total £65.3 billion.
In addition, a £76 million annual core grant is provided to 43 Music Hub partnerships to provide instrument tuition, loans, and whole-class ensemble teaching alongside £25 million for instruments and technology. From September 2026, the National Centre for Arts and Music Education will also support excellent teacher training in the arts, boost partnerships between schools and arts organisations and promote arts subjects.
The department launched the four-year music opportunities pilot in September 2024 across 12 local areas, backed by £2 million and a further £3.85 million from Arts Council England and Youth Music. The pilot supports pupils eligible for the pupil premium and others to learn how to play an instrument or sing to a high standard, including fully funded one-to-one tuition. The findings from the pilot will inform future policy on widening music opportunities.