Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will make an estimate of the number of fathers prevented from seeing their children following court proceedings in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice holds data on child arrangements that might help answer the questions relating to:
The number of custody arrangements ordered by family courts that resulted in the father being granted equal or majority care of the child in the last five years.
The average waiting time for fathers seeking access to their children through the family courts after a separation.
The number of fathers prevented from seeing their children following court proceedings in each of the last five years.
The information requested is not held centrally. It may be held in court records, but to determine that and obtain it would incur disproportionate costs
The Ministry of Justice is not able to estimate the average cost to fathers of making child arrangements in court as this data is not available.
We are committed to ensuring that the family justice system supports all parents – including fathers – and children and reflects the realities of modern family life, and we recognise the importance of ensuring that both parents have the opportunity to maintain meaningful relationships with their children where it is safe and appropriate to do so.
The Children Act 1989 requires the court to have the child’s welfare as its paramount consideration when making a decision about the child’s upbringing. Any decisions the family courts make about the future arrangements for children are based on this fundamental principle. There is no automatic assumption of shared custody, as decisions about whom a child is to live or spend time with are based on the child’s best interests. This principle applies equally to mothers and fathers.
The Government is already taking steps to ensure that financial hardship does not prevent parents from engaging with the family court system. To support access to justice, the Help with Fees scheme provides full or partial remission of court and tribunal fees for those who cannot otherwise afford them. This includes applications made in the family courts such as applications for child arrangements orders.
We are also working to reduce backlogs and improve timeliness, so that children – and the parents seeking to support them – can access the support and stability they need without unnecessary delay. This includes the agreement of system-wide targets by the Family Justice Board for 2025/26, with a continued focus on tackling delay and reducing outstanding caseloads. In public law proceedings relating to children (such as care proceedings), this involves a renewed emphasis on the procedure set out in the Public Law Outline; and in private law proceedings relating to children (such as applications for child arrangements orders), areas delivering the new Pathfinder model have made significant progress in addressing delays.
The Government does not have any plans to commission a cross-departmental review as suggested, and we have committed to long-term reform of the family courts to deliver better outcomes for families.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made an assessment of the (a) prevalence and (b) potential impact of parental alienation on fathers’ ability to maintain a relationship with their children.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government does not recognise the concept of “parental alienation” syndrome and does not think it is capable of diagnosis and has therefore not undertaken an assessment of the prevalence of “parental alienation” or its impact on fathers’ ability to maintain a relationship with their children.
The Government does recognise the important role that fathers play in their children’s lives and supports a father’s involvement in their child’s lives where that involvement is safe, meaningful and positive. The family court must make decisions in the child’s best interests; this includes having particular regard to the factors set in the ‘welfare checklist’ in the Children Act 1989, such as the ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child concerned (considered in light of their age and understanding), the impact on the child of any change in circumstances, and how capable each parent is of meeting the child’s needs.
In December 2024, the Family Justice Council published guidance on “responding to a child’s unexplained reluctance, resistance or refusal to spend time with a parent and allegations of alienating behaviour”. The guidance provides a comprehensive overview of the reasons a child may reject a parent, including harmful parenting, and provides a clear framework for assessing whether alienating behaviours are present. Where alienating behaviours are found the guidance provides clear next steps.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) translators and (b) interpreters have worked in the prison estate since 2018; and what the total cost to the public purse was for their services.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
HMPPS uses translation services provided under contract. These services provide translation by phone and do not require translators to physically come onto the prison estate. There may be specific occasions where in person translators are required but we do not hold a central record for these and to collect the information would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish (a) all recreational activities provided to inmates and (b) the total cost to the public purse for providing those activities in (i) HMP Maidstone, (ii) HMP Huntercombe and (iii) HMP Morton Hall since 2018.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The requested data is not held centrally and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many individuals released through the early release scheme were foreign nationals.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe. On 10 September 2024, the Government therefore took the unavoidable step to move the release point for certain standard determinate sentences from 50% to 40% (SDS40).
We have published SDS40 release data alongside the quarterly Offender Management Statistics, in line with the Lord Chancellor’s commitment to transparency. This includes data on the number of foreign national offenders released under SDS40.
Please find statistics on SDS40 releases by nationality group in Table 5: Standard Determinate Sentence 40 (SDS40) : September 2024 to June 2025 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many complaints have been made to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office on (a) bias against and (b) unfair treatment of fathers in family law proceedings in the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Our judges swear an oath to act "without fear or favour, affection or ill will". Judges make decisions based on the evidence and arguments presented to them, applying the law as it stands.
To uphold the important principle of judicial independence that is a cornerstone of the UK constitution, the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) can only consider complaints about the personal behaviour of a judge. Allegations of bias or unfairness in a judge’s decision or case management must be addressed through the appeals process.
The JCIO does not collect or report details of the type of proceedings that are being complained about. Its annual reports includes information about the number and subject matter of complaints received (https://www.complaints.judicialconduct.gov.uk/reportsandpublications/).
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of (a) fathers and (b) mothers received legal aid support in family court proceedings relating to child custody and access in the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The requested information is not centrally held.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent on social media advertising by (a) influencer and (b) organisation in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice uses social media influencers to help deliver its communications and operational priorities. This includes activity to support recruitment campaigns for prison officers, probation officers and magistrates, ensuring that frontline services are effectively staffed to maintain public safety and deliver swift access to justice.
Some sensitivities exist around aspects of this expenditure, as disclosure could prejudice commercial interests. All influencer activity is subject to strict Cabinet Office spending controls to ensure we balance effectiveness with value for money for the taxpayer.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 83161 on Prisoners’ Release: Reoffenders, when this data will be included in statistical releases
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The next proven reoffending statistics publication where SDS40 releases will fall within the overall cohort is currently scheduled for 30 July 2026. The content of this release, as with all future statistical releases, remains under review.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions there have been for crimes committed against (a) churches and (b) other Christian places of worship in England and Wales since 2010; and what proportion of all religious-premises offences this represents.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions for a wide range of offences, including violence against the person by defendant’s age, sex and ethnicity, in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics - GOV.UK.
It is not possible to disaggregate the data to identify individuals who were convicted of offences committed against a person from specific religious backgrounds including Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Christian churches/other places of worship nor the nationality of the offender. This information may be held in court records but to examine individual court records would incur disproportionate costs.
We are committed to creating a more stable and sustainable criminal justice system, in which victims and the public can have confidence. In December 2024, Government commissioned the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, led by Sir Brian Leveson, to propose reform to improve timeliness in the courts and deliver swift justice for victims.