Asked by: Marie Tidball (Labour - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to publish a response to her Department's report entitled, Assessing risk of harm to children and parents in private law children, published in June 2020.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice has published a full implementation plan and various updates to the report entitled “Assessing risk of harm to children and parents in private law children cases”, which is known as the Harm Panel report. The latest delivery update can be found at: Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases - Implementation Plan: delivery update.
A core part of the response to the Harm Panel report is the Pathfinder pilot courts. The Pathfinder pilot aims to improve the court experience and outcomes for children and parents involved in private family law proceedings. We recently published a specific update on the Pathfinder model which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-law-pathfinder-delivery-update.
The report recommended a review of the presumption of parental involvement. The Ministry of Justice has undertaken this review, focusing on the courts’ application of the statutory presumption and the exceptions to it, such as in cases where there is evidence that parental involvement will put the child at risk of harm. This review will be published shortly.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress her Department has made toward publishing the results of the urgent review into the presumption of parental involvement.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The previous Government announced the Review into the Presumption of Parental Involvement in November 2020, following the recommendation of the Harm Panel Report. Research into the courts’ application of the presumption was commissioned and carried out, however the outcome of the Review was not published before the 2024 general election was announced.
The Government is committed to improving outcomes for all children and families involved in the family courts. Ministers are considering the evidence gathered and the Government's response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has commissioned independent research on the experience of litigants during and prior to entering the family court process since April 2013.
Answered by Mike Freer
The Department has regularly commissioned independent research on the experience of litigants during and prior to entering the family court process since April 2013. Most recently this includes: independent research undertaken as part of the 2020 report on Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases; externally commissioned research exploring The Factors Influencing Users’ Decisions to Bring Cases to the Civil and Family Courts published in 2023; and the Review of the Presumption of Parental Involvement due to be published in early 2024.
Research conducted by, or on behalf of the MoJ, is published on ‘Research and statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)’ according to Government Social Research protocols.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and East Dulwich)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2022 to Question 109769 on Family Proceedings: Safety, what recent estimate he has made of when the final review into the presumption of parental involvement and its risk of harm exception will be published.
Answered by Mike Freer
This is an important and complex issue, and we want to ensure that any recommendations resulting from the review of the presumption of parental responsibility are based on a solid understanding of the ways this presumption is applied, and how this affects children.
The evidence gathering stage of the review has been completed. The review, including all research reports, will be published later this year.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and East Dulwich)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he expects the recommendations of Assessing risk of harm to children and parents in private law children cases report, published in June 2020, to be implemented.
Answered by Mike Freer
Good progress has been made on delivering the commitments taken forward in the Government’s Implementation Plan, with the majority of these measures already in place or in progress.
Changes were brought in as part of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, including automatic eligibility for special measures in the Family Court, the prohibition of cross examination of victims by perpetrators or alleged perpetrators, and a clarification of the law on the use of section 91(14) orders in domestic abuse circumstances. These measures have all now come into force.
We are currently undertaking a review into the presumption of parental involvement and its risk of harm exception, in private law children's cases. The evidence gathering stage of the review is currently being undertaken and the final report from the review will be published in 2023.
In addition, we are testing reforms to the Child Arrangements Programme and seeking to enhance the voice of the child through the Investigative Approach pilot which has launched in Dorset and North Wales, and through the flexible case management provisions introduced by Practice Direction 36Y.
Work is also being progressed through the Family Procedure Rule Committee on amending Rules and Practice Directions to allow IDVAs and ISVAs to accompany parties in the courtroom as a default.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the conclusions of his Department's review of the presumption of parental involvement will be published.
Answered by Sarah Dines
Work on the research underpinning the review of the presumption of parental involvement, which includes a literature review, a qualitative research project and a case file analysis, is underway and is due to be completed by the end of December 2022. The outcome of the review will be published in due course following the completion of the research.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendations from its report of June 2020, Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases; and what approach his Department plans to take on to cases decided prior to full implementation of those recommendations.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
We are making good progress against the commitments outlined in our Implementation Plan that was published alongside the ‘Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases’ report.
Changes were brought in as part of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, including automatic eligibility for special measures in the Family Court, the prohibition of cross examination of victims by perpetrators or alleged perpetrators, and a clarification of the law on the use of section 91(14) orders in domestic abuse circumstances. The special measures provision is already in force and the remaining measures are expected to be commenced later this spring.
We are currently undertaking a review into the presumption of parental involvement and its risk of harm exception, in private law children cases. The research for this review is expected to be complete by the end of the year. In February we launched the Integrated Domestic Abuse Court (IDAC) pilot to test a more investigative approach to private law proceedings in courts in Dorset and North Wales.
On 26 March 2021, we launched the Family Mediation Voucher Scheme, which offers up to £500 towards eligible mediation cases, encouraging people to resolve their disputes outside of court where safe and appropriate to do so. We allocated £3.3m throughout the 2021-22 financial year, helping 6,726 families in the period to mediate on issues around their children. As of 24 April 2022, 7,916 vouchers have been distributed, and we will be making an official announcement on funding for the 2022-23 financial year shortly.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the time taken to publish the Child protection at heart of courts review on children living with a parent who is a known perpetrator of domestic abuse.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Work is underway on the review into the presumption of parental involvement in private law proceedings. The review is focused on the application of the presumption, and the statutory exception, in cases where there is evidence to suggest that parental involvement will put the child at risk of harm. Covid-19 has led to delays in the commissioning and delivery of the literature review, qualitative research project, and judgment analysis. All three strands are now on track to complete by the end of the year.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's Press Release of 9 November 2020 entitled Child protection at the heart of courts review, when he plans to publish that review.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Work is underway on the review into the presumption of parental involvement in private law proceedings. The review is focused on the application of the presumption, and the statutory exception, in cases where there is evidence to suggest that parental involvement will put the child at risk of harm. Covid-19 has led to delays in the commissioning and delivery of the literature review, qualitative research project, and judgment analysis. All three strands are now on track to complete by the end of the year.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress his Department has made on the review of the application of the presumption of parental involvement in the family courts, announced on 9 November 2020.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Government launched the review into the presumption of parental involvement in child arrangements cases in November 2020. This review focuses on understanding how the presumption, together with its ‘risk of harm’ exception, is applied by the courts, including where there is evidence to suggest that the involvement of a parent will put the child at risk of harm. It also focuses on the impact on children’s welfare of the courts’ application of the presumption and its exception. An Advisory Group was established in November 2020 to inform the direction of the review, which has faced delays, largely due to COVID 19 restrictions. Work on the literature review, the qualitative research project, and the case file analysis continues.