Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership's report entitled Child Safeguarding Practice Review: Sara Sharif, published on 13 November 2025, whether his Department plans to review the accessibility of family courts.

What happened to Sara Sharif was a tragedy. Whilst Sara’s father and stepmother are rightly serving life sentences for their appalling crimes, it is clear that our response must not stop there.

We recognise the challenges raised by the Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review. The Ministry of Justice is working with partners across the family justice system to enable the Family Courts to deliver the right outcomes for children. A key element of this Government’s reform of private law children cases is the national rollout of the Child Focused Courts model in certain private law proceedings relating to children. The model improves coordination between the Family Court and agencies, including local authorities and the police, particularly in cases involving domestic abuse. The model frontloads information gathering and risk assessment through the introduction of the Child Impact Report which presents an assessment of issues through engagement with the parties, the children, and relevant agencies.