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Average time for disposal of care or supervision applications made in last quarter stands at 28 weeks
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The Ministry of Justice has published court statistics
showing the average time for the disposal of a care or supervision application made in January to March 2016 was 28 weeks.A long term downward trend seen since 2011 reduced the average time for a disposal to be made to around 29 weeks in quarter three of 2014 (July to September), and then dropped again slightly to 27.5 weeks at the end of 2015. This figure has remained constant in the latest quarter.Other key findings the report details include:- 63,015 cases started in family courts in England and Wales in January to March 2016 maintaining the steady flat trend seen in recent years. Nearly half of new cases are divorce cases.
- Public law applications increased by 18% to 4,504 in January to March 2016, compared with the previous year (3,826) – the number of children involved in public law applications also increased by 14%over the same period to 8,287.
- The average time for the disposal of divorce cases with financial remedy has been steadily increasing from the start of 2015 to 24.8 weeks in January to March 2016, following a long period of stability around 20 weeks.
- 60% of care or supervision proceedings were disposed of within 26 weeks, following on from the 26 week time limit for completing these cases introduced in the Children and Families Act 2014.
- After a rise in the number of applications for non-molestation domestic violence remedy orders during 2013, the trend has remained steady over the last two years.
- Following their introduction in July 2015, there have been 60 applications and 46 orders made for Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders (FGMPOs) up to the end of March 2016.
- There were 1,545 applications made for an adoption order, down 11% from the same quarter in 2015.
- There has been a gradual upward trend in the total number of applications and orders made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and a 9% increase in applications in the latest quarter from January to March 2015.
- Applications relating to Deprivation of Liberty tripled over the last 12 months from 236 made in January to March 2015 to 678 in the latest quarter.
- There were 141,667 Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) in January to March 2016, the highest quarterly figure so far and up 18% on the same quarter for 2015.
The full statistical bulletin can be downloaded
here.
