Accredited official statistics

Family Court Statistics Quarterly: January to March 2026

Published 25 June 2026

1. Main Points

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Increase in the number of cases started in the family courts	71,259 new cases started in family courts in January to March 2026, up 3% on the same quarter in 2025. This was due to increases in most case types: private law (16%), financial remedy (11%), public law (5%) and domestic violence (4%) cases. However, there was a decrease in adoption (7%) and matrimonial matters (5%) case starts.
On average, care proceedings took less time than in the same quarter last year with a similar proportion of cases disposed within 26 weeks	The average time for a care or supervision case to reach disposal was 37 weeks (mean average) in January to March 2026, down 2 weeks compared to the same quarter in 2025. 36% of cases were disposed of within 26 weeks - similar to the same period in 2025.
Private law (Children Act) cases were disposed quicker, with more disposals within 26 weeks	The average time for Children Act private law cases to be disposed was 35 weeks (mean average) during January to March 2026, down around 5 weeks compared to the same period in 2025. 52% of cases were disposed of within 26 weeks - up 7 percentage points compared to the same period in 2025.
There were 28,632 divorce applications under the no fault divorce legislation this quarter	Between January to March 2026 there were 28,632 divorce applications made, down 5% compared to the same period in 2025, including those for dissolution of civil partnerships.
Increase in both domestic violence remedy orders applied for and orders made	The number of domestic violence remedy orders applied for was 9,322, an increase of 5% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2025, while the number of orders made also increased by 5% to 9,867 over the same period.
Decrease in the number of both adoption applications and orders	In January to March 2026 there were 966 adoption applications, down 5% on the equivalent quarter in 2025. The number of adoption orders issued decreased by 9% to 926.
Increase in deprivation of liberty applications and decrease in orders made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005	There were 2,264 applications under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 relating to deprivation of liberty in January to March 2026, up 6% on the equivalent quarter in 2025. Orders decreased by 12% to 4,940 in the latest quarter compared to the same period last year.
Time taken for probate grants issued shows little change	Probate grants took approximately 5 weeks (mean average) to be issued after the application was submitted during January to March 2026, similar to the equivalent quarter in 2025. The number of probate applications was 65,254, an increase of 1% over the same period.

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This publication presents statistics on activity in the family courts of England and Wales and provides figures for the latest quarter (January to March 2026). For further information and technical details please refer to the accompanying Guide to Family Court Statistics.

For feedback related to the content of this publication, please let us know at familycourt.statistics@justice.gov.uk

2. New data

Please note that several new data metrics are included in this publication, to continue to ensure we meet evolving user needs:

• Open caseload statistics have now been expanded to include private law cases (Table 2b).
• Following consultation, the methodology in Table 9 has been updated to measure the time to case disposal, and the percentage of cases disposed of within 26 weeks (Table 9)

Also, a new data visualisation tool for public law cases has been released as part of this publication. 

Following a consultation in our last publication, a summary of this along with next steps has been published as well.

There is also an ad hoc annex being published alongside FCSQ to contribute to the wider evidence base underpinning the Family Justice Strategy, intended as a one-off release. If you have any feedback on this data, please let us know at familycourt.statistics@justice.gov.uk.

3. Data Improvements

Legal representation (Table 11): Data for financial remedy, domestic violence and private law have been reintroduced, following a period of pausing those series (financial remedy had a new system recording hearings data that needed accounting for and reintroduction post-Reform for domestic violence and private law).

4. Data Quality Issues

The rollout of HMCTS reform in family courts introduced a new data management system, Core Case Data (CCD), to collect family court data. As each service area undergoes reform, existing cases stay on the legacy system FamilyMan (FM) until they are disposed or closed, while new cases are recorded on CCD with some key details copied back to FM.

Following family private law (FPrL) undergoing this reform process and work done to amalgamate both FM and CCD there are some reports that have work on-going and remain paused:

• The number of children involved in private law applications by order type (Table 3)
• The number of private law cases starting in the High Court (Table 7)

These series will be reinstated as soon as possible once the work is complete.

Data for divorce hearings for Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2022 onwards (Tables 11 and 13) has recently been made available and will be reinstated in future publications.

Timeliness data for the Court of Protection has been paused due to a possible data quality issue while we investigate further.

5. Statistician’s comment

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During January to March 2026, an increased number of cases started for most areas, including domestic violence and private law, compared to the equivalent period last year. However, the number of cases disposed for public and private law, as well as adoption, decreased during this period.

Data on public law cases shows that for care proceedings, more cases were disposed of within the 26 weeks timeframe, and private law cases were also disposed of more quickly, compared to the same period last year.

New data shows that there was an increase in the number of total open private law cases, but the majority of cases had been open for less than 26 weeks.

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6. Overview of the Family Justice System

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Increases in both the number of cases started and cases disposed in Family Courts

In January to March 2026, 71,259 new cases started in family courts, up 3% on the equivalent quarter in 2025. This was due to increases in most case types: private law (16%), financial remedy (11%), public law (5%) and domestic violence (4%) cases. However, there was a decrease in adoption (7%) and matrimonial (5%) case starts.

There were 63,668 case disposals in January to March 2026, up 10% on the equivalent quarter of 2025. This was due to increases in domestic violence (29%), matrimonial (24%) and financial remedy (13%) cases. However, there was a decrease in private law (17%), adoption (6%) and public law (5%) case disposals (Table 1).

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Figure 1: Cases started and disposed, by case type, January to March 2015 to January to March 2026 (Source: Table 1)

In January to March 2026, 40% of new cases within family courts related to matrimonial matters, down 4 percentage points from the equivalent quarter of 2025.

Timeliness by Case Type

The mean average time for divorce cases (under the no fault divorce law) to reach first disposal was 35 weeks, down 3 weeks compared to the equivalent quarter in 2025. Private law cases took less time, with the mean average time to disposal in January to March 2026 taking 35 weeks, down around 5 weeks compared to the same period in 2025. (Tables 10, 10b)

Public and private law cases – number of parties

The vast majority of private law cases involve one applicant (96%) and one respondent (94%) only (Table 6). However, for public law cases whilst nearly all cases have only one applicant, 81% involve two or more respondents.

HMCTS monthly management information

The statistics in this publication focus on the period between January to March 2026; however, monthly management information (MI) has been published by HMCTS that covers up to April 2026. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/hmcts-management-information-april-2026. This MI is subject to the data quality issues associated with extracting data from large live administrative case management systems. Late reporting of cases and regular updating of case details, which can lead to the figures being updated to manage the case - more recent figures may therefore be subject to larger revisions and should be treated with greater care and considered provisional.

7. Children Act - Public Law

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Increase in the number of public law case starts and decrease in the number of cases disposed

There were 4,160 public law cases starting in January to March 2026, up 5% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2025. Cases disposed were down 5% to 3,766 (Table 2).

Average time for care proceedings decreased

The average time for a care and supervision case to be disposed was 37 weeks in January to March 2026, down 2 weeks from the same quarter in 2025. 36% of these care proceedings were disposed of within the 26-week limit introduced in the Children and Families Act 2014, similar to the same period last year (Table 8).

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There were 7,205 individual children involved in new public law applications in January to March 2026, up 8% on the same quarter in the previous year, while the number of orders applied for increased by 9%. In January to March 2026, care orders made up 65% of public law orders applied for (3,197) (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Public law orders applied for and orders made by order type, January to March 2026 (Source: Table 3-4)

Open caseload

There were 10,259 total open public law cases at the end of March 2026. This is up from 9,826 at the end of March 2025, a rise of 4%. 66% (6,734) of the open caseload at the end of March 2026 had been open for less than 26 weeks, whereas 163 cases (2%) had been open for 90 weeks or longer.

Deprivation of Liberty applications made under the High Court

Deprivation of liberty applications made to the High Court have the power to make deprivation of liberty orders for children under the age of 18.

There were 393 applications during January to March 2026, up 22% compared to the same period in 2025 for this purpose, handling the same number of children. Almost all of these children were teenagers; 64% were aged between 13 and 15 and 25% were aged between 16 and 18 years (Table 20).

In January to March 2026, 248 orders were issued (down 16%), of which, 34 have had a final order made. 38% of the orders which were finalised between January to March 2026 lasted less than 3 months, while 6% lasted more than 12 months.

These are different from the deprivation of liberty applications and orders made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which relate to people over the age of 18, covered later in this bulletin.

8. Children Act - Private Law

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Increase in the number of private law case starts and decrease in the number of cases disposed

The number of private law cases^{[footnote 1]} started increased by 16% (to 15,534) in January to March 2026 compared to the equivalent quarter in 2025.

The number of private law cases disposed of during January to March 2026 was down 17% (to 10,519) on the equivalent quarter in 2025 (Table 2).

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There were 29,793 new private law orders applied for in January to March 2026, up 15% on the equivalent quarter in 2025, with 22,928 individual children involved in these applications.

The number of private law orders made in January to March 2026 was 27,663, down 4% on the equivalent quarter in 2025.

Timeliness of Private law cases

In January to March 2026, it took on average 35 weeks for private law cases to be disposed, down 5 weeks from the same period in 2025 (Table 10).

52% of all private law cases were dealt with within 26 weeks of application in January to March 2026, up 7 percentage points on the same period in the previous year (Table 9).

Figure 3: Private law timeliness to case disposal in the family court, January to March 2015 to January to March 2026 (Source: Table 10)

Open caseload

Data on the private law open caseload has been included in FCSQ for the first time. It shows that there were 40,971 total open private law cases at the end of March 2026. This is up from 36,939 at the end of March 2025, a rise of 11%. 57% (23,492) of the open caseload at the end of March 2026 had been open for less than 26 weeks, whereas 1,692 cases (4%) had been open for 100 weeks or longer (Table 2b).

9. Legal Representation

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Cases with legal representation take longer on average

In general, cases where either both parties or the respondent only had legal representation took longer to be disposed of than those cases where only the applicant was represented or where both parties were without legal representation (Table 10).

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Legal representation in private law cases

The implementation of the LASPO Act led to a shift in the proportion of private law cases involving legal representation^{[footnote 2]},^{[footnote 3]}. More recently, the proportions have been relatively stable - in January to March 2026, the proportion of disposals where neither the applicant nor respondent had legal representation was 49%, up 3 percentage points from January to March 2025.

Correspondingly, the proportion of cases where both parties had legal representation was 13% in January to March 2026, down 1 percentage point compared to the same period in 2025 (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Proportion of private law disposals by type of legal representation of the parties, January to March 2015 to January to March 2026 (Source: Table 10)

The proportion of parties with legal representation in cases with at least one hearing varies by case type and range from around 85% for public law cases to 3% for adoption cases, with figures subject to change as new cases progress (Table 11).

10. Divorce

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There were 28,632 divorce applications made between January to March 2026 under the ‘no fault divorce’ (NFD) legislation introduced in April 2022.

Between January to March 2026 there were 28,632 applications made (Table 12b). This was a decrease of 5% from the same quarter in 2025. There were 27,320 final orders granted in January to March 2026 up 24% compared to the same quarter in 2025 (across both no fault divorce and prior legislation) (Table 12).

Decrease in the average time for all divorce proceedings

In January to March 2026, the mean average time from application to conditional order was 39 weeks, down 3 weeks from the same quarter of 2025 (Table 12).

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There were 28,632 divorce applications made during January to March 2026 (72% from sole applicants, 28% from joint applicants) (Table 12b), down by 5% from the same quarter in 2025. There were 27,320 final orders granted in January to March 2026, up 24% compared to the same quarter in 2025 (across both no fault divorce and prior legislation) (Table 12).

Timeliness of divorce cases

The mean average time from the date of application to conditional order was 39 weeks, down 3 weeks from the same period in 2025. The mean average time from application to final order was 67 weeks, down 7 weeks from the equivalent quarter in 2025.

The mean timeliness figures can be inflated when historical cases reach decree nisi/conditional order or decree absolute/final order. These historical cases have less effect on the median timeliness, which may act as a better indicator for the length of current divorce proceedings. In January to March 2026, the median time to conditional order was 27 weeks and 39 weeks to final order.

Please note that, due to the mandatory waiting period between applying for divorce and applying for the conditional order (CO), this means that any NFD cases started would have had to have waited at least 20 weeks before getting to the CO stage. For cases applied for under the old law, our timeliness measure will represent a dwindling number of cases and reflect the tail end of cases applied for prior to April 2022, and so this measure will be relatively high and will increase over time (and represent fewer cases) until all cases applied for under the old law are dealt with.

Sole and Joint divorce cases

For sole divorce cases, there were 20,673 applications made during January to March 2026 (72% of the total, down 2 percentage points from the same period of 2025). The average time to conditional order for January to March 2026 for these cases was 37 weeks, and 58 weeks from application to final order.

For joint divorce cases, there were 7,959 applications made during January to March 2026 (28% of the total, up 2 percentage points from the same period of 2025). The average time to conditional order for January to March 2026 for these cases was 30 weeks, and 48 weeks from application to final order.

Figure 5: Divorce applications made between April to June 2022 to January to March 2026, by applicant type (Source: Table 12b)

11. Financial Remedy

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Increase seen in financial remedy applications and disposal events

In January to March 2026, the number of financial remedy applications was up 11% and the number of disposal events was up 12% compared to the same period in 2025 (Table 14).

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There were 12,646 financial remedy applications made in January to March 2026, up 11% from the same period in 2025, while there were 12,764 financial remedy disposal events, up 12% compared with a year earlier. During the latest quarter, 73% of applications were uncontested and 27% were contested.

Figure 6: Applications for financial remedy orders, January to March 2015 to January to March 2026 (Source: Table 14)

12. Domestic Violence Remedy Orders

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Increase in both the number of domestic violence remedy orders applied for and orders made, consistent with the long-term trend

In January to March 2026, there was a 5% increase in orders applied for compared to the equivalent quarter in 2025. The number of orders made increased by 5% over the same period (Table 15).

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In January to March 2026, there were 9,322 orders applied for. Most of the orders applied for were non-molestation orders (82%) compared to occupation orders (18%); these proportions have remained relatively consistent in recent years. Applications for non-molestation and occupation orders in January to March 2026 were both up, by 3% and 17% respectively, compared to the same period in 2025.

There were 9,867 domestic violence orders made in January to March 2026, up 5% from the same period last year. 93% were non-molestation orders and 7% were occupation orders, with non-molestation orders up by 4% and occupation orders up by 15% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2025.

The lockdown situation as a result of the covid-19 pandemic brought warnings about an increase in domestic violence, with victims having less opportunity to leave abusive partners. Longer term, police forces have been using a power to release alleged perpetrators without bail conditions, referred to as ‘released under investigation’, since 2017. This is a possible driving factor behind the longer-term rise in domestic violence remedy cases, as victims seek protective orders through the courts. The publicity regarding the Domestic Abuse Bill (draft published January 2019 and completed in the Commons stages July 2020) may have also impacted levels.

Figure 7: Domestic violence remedy orders applied for, January to March 2015 to January to March 2026 (Source: Table 15)

13. Forced Marriage Protection Orders and Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders

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Following drops during COVID lockdown periods, forced marriage protection orders volumes have since stabilised, while female genital mutilation protection order volumes increased more recently since 2024 (Table 16 and 17)

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The number of applications and orders made for forced marriage protection orders (FMPOs) is very small. Consequently, numbers fluctuate each quarter but overall, there has broadly been an upward trend from mid-2020.

In January to March 2026, there were 120 applications made, up from 97 applications made in the equivalent quarter in 2025. Over the same period, there were 191 orders made (including interim and final orders, along with making variations to existing orders), down 22% since the same period from the previous year.

Historically the numbers of orders made outweigh the number of applications. Often there are multiple orders granted per case, where one application covers more than one person, and an order is granted for each person covered in the application. Interim orders, as well as extensions and increased provision of previous orders, can also be granted as new orders for the same person to be protected, without the need for a new application to be submitted.

An increase in the number of orders does not necessarily represent an increase in the prevalence of forced marriage, but potentially it relates to a greater awareness of forced marriage being a crime and the support available. Particularly during 2019 where the government held events with relevant groups (local authorities, police, charities etc.), designed specifically to raise awareness of FMPOs and how they can be used to protect those at risk. In 2020, health education became compulsory across all state-funded schools in England, where Relationship Education is compulsory in primary schools and Relationship and Sex Education (RES) is compulsory in secondary schools to spread awareness of forced marriages. For broader context on forced marriage, including referrals and contacts handled by the Forced Marriage Unit, see the separate Forced Marriage Unit Statistics 2025 publication ^{[footnote 4]}.

Figure 8: Applications and orders made for Forced Marriage Protection Orders, January to March 2015 to January to March 2026 (Source: Table 16)

As with FMPOs, the number of applications and orders made for female genital mutilation protection orders (FGMPOs) is very small, with only 32 applications and 53 orders made respectively in January to March 2026 (Table 17). In total, there have been 689 applications and 1,547 orders made up to end of March 2026, with data recorded centrally in 2018.

14. Adoptions

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Decrease in the number of adoption applications and orders, consistent with the long-term trend showing a fall in adoptions

During January to March 2026, there were 966 adoption applications made, down 5% from the equivalent quarter in 2025. Over the same period, the number of adoption orders issued also decreased by 9% to 926 (Tables 18 and 19).

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There were 1,845 total disposals in January to March 2026, a decrease of 10% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2025.

The chart below shows the trend of adoption orders by the type of adopter. This shows that during January to March 2026, 58% of all adoption orders were issued to mixed-sex couples, 21% to sole applicants, 16% to same-sex couples and 5% to step-parents.

Figure 9: Adoption orders issued, by adopter, January to March 2015 to January to March 2026 (Source: Table 19)

15. Mental Capacity Act - Court of Protection

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An increase in both applications and orders under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA)

There were 11,351 applications made in January to March 2026 (up by 18%) and 14,604 orders made (up by 6%).

Increase in applications and decrease in orders made in relation to deprivation of liberty under the Mental Capacity Act 2005

There were 2,264 applications relating to deprivation of liberty under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 made in the most recent quarter, which is an increase of 6% on the number made in the same quarter in 2025.

Furthermore, there was a decrease of 12% in the orders made for deprivation of liberty over the same period from 5,610 to 4,940.

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In January to March 2026, there were 11,351 applications made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), up by 18% on the equivalent quarter in 2025 (9,646 applications). (COP Table 1).

In comparison, there were 14,604 orders made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), up by 6% compared to the same quarter in 2025. Of those, 34% related to deprivation of liberty orders (COP Table 2).

Deprivation of Liberty applications made under the Mental Capacity Act

There were 2,264 applications relating to deprivation of liberty under the Mental Capacity Act in January to March 2026 (20% of the applications made under the Mental Capacity Act in this quarter). Deprivation of liberty orders made decreased by 12% from 5,610 in January to March 2025 to 4,940 in the latest quarter.

Figure 10: Deprivation of Liberty applications and orders under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, July to September 2024 to January to March 2026 (Source: CoP Tables 1 and 2)

16. Mental Capacity Act - Office of the Public Guardian

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A decreasing trend in Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) following the peak mid-2024 with more recent increases

In January to March 2026, there were 366,578 LPAs registered, up 22% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2025 (Table 21).

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In total there were 367,536 Powers of Attorney (POAs) registered in January to March 2026, up 22% from the same quarter in 2025 (Table 23). In January to March 2026, 55% of POAs registered were from female donors whilst 43% were from male donors and 44% were over 75 years old. Lasting Power of Attorney (LPAs) made up almost all (99.7%) of POAs registered in January to March 2026, with Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs) making up the other share. There were 958 EPAs registered in January to March 2026, down 20% on the equivalent quarter in 2025.

The sharp increase in LPAs seen during 2015 and 2016 was largely due to increased publicity and the new online forms introduced in July 2015 making it simpler and faster to apply. The more recent increase in LPAs is part of the trend seen of more applications being made over time as awareness of LPAs has increased and also in response to the pandemic, leading to a peak in mid-2024.

Figure 11: Powers of Attorney registered, January to March 2015 to January to March 2026 (Source: Table 21)

17. Probate Service

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Probate grants issued more quickly than other grants of representation

Probate grants took approximately 5 weeks to be issued after the application was submitted during January to March 2026, which remained the same as the equivalent quarter in 2025. Letters of administration with a will and without a will took around 20 and 11 weeks respectively (Table 23).

Similar levels in the proportion of digital applications for probate grants with an increase in the proportion of probate grants issued made digitally

In January to March 2026, there were 65,254 applications for probate grants. 62,261 probate grants were issued in the same period. 93% of these applications and 94% of these grants issued were made digitally, compared to 93% of each in the same quarter in 2025 (Table 22).

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There were 81,069 applications made for grants of representation in January to March 2026. 65,254 (80%) of these were for probate grants, of which 93% were made digitally (Table 22).

Probate grants also make up the majority (81%) of all grants issued. In January to March 2026, 54% of the grants issued were applied for by legal professionals and 46% were personal applications (Table 22). For the 62,261 probate grants issued in the same period, 94% were issued digitally.

Timeliness of probate grants

The mean average time from application submission to grant issue for probate grants was 5 weeks (median average 1 week) overall. Whilst the mean average time for the majority of grants (that is digital probate grants for applications not stopped which formed 70% of total probate grants issued) took approximately 2 weeks from application submission to grant issue and less than a week from document receipt to grant issue.

Timeliness of grants issued can be affected if the case has been ‘stopped’ for any reason (this can occur when there’s a dispute about either who can apply for probate or where there are issues with a will or proposed will, or if an error is identified and a request for further information made). Probate grants that were stopped during January to March 2026 took 14 weeks on average to be issued, compared to 2 weeks for those that were not stopped.

Time taken from document receipt (i.e. when payment has been made and the application and all accompanying documents are ready for examination) to grant issue, is around 1 week quicker than the average time from application submission for probate grants.

Averages for letters of administration with a will and without a will were 20 and 11 weeks respectively for January to March 2026, though these formed a smaller proportion of all grants issued, 3% and 15% respectively (Figure 12).

Figure 12: Average (mean) time for grants of representation issued from application submission by the Probate Service, July to September 2019 to January to March 2026 (Source: Table 23)

Open caseload

There were 42,490 total open probate cases at the end of March 2026, with 56% being workable caseload. This is up from 35,740 at the end of March 2025, a rise of 19%. The majority of the open caseload is for probate grants (61%), compared to letters of administration (30%) and letters of administration with a will annexed (9%). Open cases for probate only increased from 23,439 in March 2025 to 25,744, up by 10%. 78% (32,949) of the open caseload at the end of March 2026 had been open for less than six months.

18. Further information

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The data presented in this publication are from live administrative databases. Therefore, previously published data is liable to be updated in the latest bulletin, following any further data cleaning or the incorporation of additional cases not available in the extracts used to produce previous bulletins.

Accompanying files

As well as this bulletin, the following products are published as part of this release:

• A technical guide providing further information on how the data is collected and processed, as well as information on the revisions policy and legislation relevant to family court and background on the functioning of the family justice system

• A set of overview tables for the family courts as well as the Court of Protection (also available in accessible format) and CSV files, covering each section of this bulletin

• Data visualisation tools to provide a more granular and interactive view of cases through the Family court system. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2026/family-court-data-visualisation-tools

Accredited official statistics status

Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in January 2019. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

It is the Ministry of Justice’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards expected for accredited official statistics. If we become concerned about whether these statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, we will discuss any concerns with the Authority promptly. Accredited official statistics status can be removed at any point when the highest standards are not maintained, and reinstated when standards are restored.

Contact

Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office:

Tel: 0300 790 0711

Media enquiries - Ministry of Justice - GOV.UK

Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed to the Courts and People division of the Ministry of Justice:

Sarah Steadman, Head of Family Court Statistics, using the following email address familycourt.statistics@justice.gov.uk

Next update: 24 September 2026

URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly

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Produced by the Ministry of Justice

Alternative formats are available on request from familycourt.statistics@justice.gov.uk

1. The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) also publishes (England only) data on the number of private law cases. A comparison of Cafcass and MoJ data and further information can be found in the accompanying guide. ↩

2. Please see the accompanying guide for further details. ↩

3. Removal of Legal Aid was a result of the Legal Aid, Sentencing & Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO). ↩

4. Forced Marriage Unit statistics 2025 - GOV.UK ↩