Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's report of 2020 entitled Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases, what steps his Department is taking to implement recommendations from that report; and whether the Government has any plans for an alternative inquiry to take its place.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice and its partners are delivering a package of reforms aimed at improving how the family justice system supports children and families – including victims of domestic abuse.
As part of this work we have already taken forward many of the actions it committed to following the Harm Panel report. This includes expanding the Pathfinder model which aims to improve the experience of children and families involved in private law proceedings. Through delivery of Pathfinder in ten court areas, we are learning a significant amount about how the family courts can operate in line with the principles for reform set out in the Harm Panel report. We are carefully monitoring these lessons ahead of further expansion. Alongside this, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s recent report on the Family Court Review and Reporting Mechanism pilot has made further recommendations, which the Government is now considering.
In addition, following the recommendations of the Harm Panel report, we have completed a review of the presumption of parental involvement. The evidence from the review suggests that the presumption may feed into a pro-contact culture in the family courts, finding a high incidence of court-ordered contact between children and parents who have caused or posed a risk of harm. As part of our wider package of family court reforms, the Government announced on 22 October 2025 that we will repeal the presumption of parental involvement from the Children Act 1989 when Parliamentary time allows.
The Government will also be publishing our new, cross-government Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy as soon as possible, which will set out the strategic direction and concrete actions to deliver on the Government’s ambition to tackle violence against women and girls.
The Government therefore does not consider it necessary to establish an alternative inquiry at this time.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department's planned timescale is for simplifying the Court of Protection process for families wanting to access savings in Child Trust Funds for disabled children.
Answered by Mike Freer
According to management information provided by the Court of Protection for the period 2020 to date it has received and dealt with 70 successful applications where a Child Trust Fund is the sole asset. This does not include those cases where a Child Trust Fund may be one of several assets owned by the young person lacking capacity.
The online process to streamline and speed up processing times for property and affairs applications was made available to all court users in February. We continue to review and revise the process and the court will continue to identify areas to simplify and remove duplication on court forms, including uploading to the online process many of the forms required for a property and affairs applications.
It is for the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to consider the potential merits of using their Appointee scheme to cover Child Trust Fund accounts for disabled young people that lack mental capacity.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applicants have successfully applied to the Court of Protection to access their Child’s Trust Fund savings in the past three years.
Answered by Mike Freer
According to management information provided by the Court of Protection for the period 2020 to date it has received and dealt with 70 successful applications where a Child Trust Fund is the sole asset. This does not include those cases where a Child Trust Fund may be one of several assets owned by the young person lacking capacity.
The online process to streamline and speed up processing times for property and affairs applications was made available to all court users in February. We continue to review and revise the process and the court will continue to identify areas to simplify and remove duplication on court forms, including uploading to the online process many of the forms required for a property and affairs applications.
It is for the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to consider the potential merits of using their Appointee scheme to cover Child Trust Fund accounts for disabled young people that lack mental capacity.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using the Department for Work and Pensions Appointee scheme to cover Child Trust Fund accounts for disabled young people that lack mental capacity.
Answered by Mike Freer
According to management information provided by the Court of Protection for the period 2020 to date it has received and dealt with 70 successful applications where a Child Trust Fund is the sole asset. This does not include those cases where a Child Trust Fund may be one of several assets owned by the young person lacking capacity.
The online process to streamline and speed up processing times for property and affairs applications was made available to all court users in February. We continue to review and revise the process and the court will continue to identify areas to simplify and remove duplication on court forms, including uploading to the online process many of the forms required for a property and affairs applications.
It is for the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to consider the potential merits of using their Appointee scheme to cover Child Trust Fund accounts for disabled young people that lack mental capacity.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many funds are allocated to local authorities by his Department through a process of competitive bidding; and if he will publish the names of those funds.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Department has not allocated any funding in 2020-21 to local authorities through a process of competitive bidding.