Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 24
24
Significant gaps and quality issues exist in family justice data collection.
Conclusion
There are significant gaps in family justice data. These data gaps include, for example, demographic information on children and their families; data on outcomes for children; and data on the prevalence of domestic abuse in private law cases.56 There are also issues with the quality of family courts data collected. In 2024, HMCTS reviewed approximately 2,000 private law cases that had been open for over 85–90 weeks and found 30% of them had exited the court process and needed to be closed.57 48 Qq 12, 20; C&AG’s Report, para 3.13 49 Q 26 50 Qq 38, 69; C&AG’s Report, para 3.2 51 Q 11 52 Qq 33-35; C&AG’s Report, paras 15, 3.2-3.3 53 Qq 34-35 54 Q 37 55 Qq 33-35 56 Qq 39, 64; C&AG’s Report, para 2.14; IFC0024; IFC0036 57 Q 39; C&AG’s Report, para 2.14 16