Tens of thousands of children in England and Wales have been left in limbo by delays in the family court that have meant many waiting over a year for their future to be resolved.
The Law Society said the system was in crisis, after data showed that children removed from their parents were having to wait an average of 46 weeks to get a final decision on where they would live.
In a quarter of areas, the wait in family proceedings in public law cases was double the recommended government target of 26 weeks, with the longest delays in east London and Norwich, both of which had waiting times of 60 weeks in the first three months of this year.
Lubna Shuja, president of the Law Society, said: “What is often missed in the debate around the unacceptable backlogs in our family courts is the impact on children. They are suffering the very real consequences of months and sometimes years of uncertainty about their future, preventing them from having the stability they need to thrive.”
Only one area, Worcester, hit the 26-week target in the first quarter of the year, according to the statistics published by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass). West London and Wolverhampton/Telford were the next worst after east London and Norwich, with each recording a wait of 58 weeks.
Cafcass said it had 31,961 open children’s cases at the end of May, affecting 52,276 individual children.
The Law Society, which represents solicitors in England and Wales, said children involved in private family law cases waiting for decisions on living arrangements after their parents had separated also faced similar delays. Courts statistics showed that there are more than 80,000 children caught up in private family law proceedings, while the average case duration last year was 44.9 weeks.
Cris McCurley, a member of the Law Society’s access to justice committee, said: “The entire family courts system is creaking after years of austerity cuts and neglect.
“As a practitioner it is heartbreaking to have to deal with the consequences of this and I worry about the effect on children, some of whom have not seen their primary carer parent for more than three years. There needs to be investment in the system, now.”
The society is calling on the government to restore early legal advice in family law cases to help parents better understand their rights and their options for resolving issues involving children.
Shuja said: “The government is focused on introducing mandatory mediation in family cases as the way to solve the backlogs in the courts but mediation is not always appropriate. Early legal advice means separating couples can get the guidance they need to identify the solution that works for them – solicitors can assist in negotiating settlements or refer them to mediation where appropriate.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We have been taking decisive action to improve waiting times in the family courts, with over 3,000 more private law cases reaching conclusion in 2022 than in 2017, and are investing £24m in our landmark mediation scheme to prevent disputing parents from needing to go to court in the first place – while also investing millions in early legal support for those who do need to see a judge.”
