Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications to the Court of Protection for statutory wills were made in each of the last five years; and how many applications were granted in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The latest published Court of Protection (COP) statistics on application and order volumes by type, are all available in the Family Court Statistics 2025 published quarterly in tables 20 and 21.
Volumes of applications and orders relating to wills (applications to execute wills) are grouped together currently with applications for gifts and orders for settlement due to the low volumes and their paths through the court being similar with Official Solicitor involvement.
Asked by: Alex Barros-Curtis (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to prevent people who have committed sexual offences from obtaining parental responsibility or contact orders for children conceived as a result of their crimes; and whether she plans to introduce amendments to the Children Act to close this loophole.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government has included a measure in the Victim and Courts Bill which will restrict the exercise of an offender’s parental responsibility where they are sentenced to four or more years imprisonment for a serious child sexual abuse offence against a child for whom they hold parental responsibility. Given these changes are untested, the Government has chosen to focus on the cases involving the highest degree of direct risk to children first.
However, the Government recognises the discussions around the appropriate scope of the measure, including whether to extend it to offenders convicted of rape where a child has been conceived as a result. We are looking at this closely and will continue to work across Parliament as the Bill progresses.
The welfare of a child must be the court’s paramount consideration when making decisions about that child’s life. Courts already have powers under the Children Act 1989 to restrict the exercise of parental responsibility and to control who the child should live or spend time with, if it is in the child’s best interest to do so. When considering arrangements to be made for a child, including the extent to which parental responsibility should be exercisable and who exactly the child should live or spent time with, the court must have particular regard to a list of welfare factors, including any harm the child has suffered or is at risk of suffering.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of enforcement mechanisms for small claim judgements.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The civil courts offer several different enforcement methods that a judgment creditor may apply for to recover money owed on a court judgment. The Government is committed to ensuring that these processes are effective and fair. The Government welcomes the Civil Justice Council’s report about enforcement processes, which made a number of recommendations to make them more accessible and streamlined. The Government is considering these findings and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to help prevent inheritance fraud.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The legal framework in England and Wales provides a wide range of measures to help protect the public from inheritance fraud, with longstanding legal requirements to be satisfied before a will is executed so it is valid in law. There are a range of legal tests to be satisfied in areas such as the capacity of a person to make a will.
When wills are submitted for proof as part of the process of applying for grants of probate (to administer the deceased person’s estate) a number of checks are undertaken. In the light of recent allegations of fraudulent activity in respect of some probate applications the Government is reviewing the preventative steps taken, involving all relevant departments and agencies.
The law also provides the means for challenges to be made against the validity of a will by interested parties, including on the grounds of forgery, fraud, undue influence and testamentary capacity.
The Government is currently considering reforms to the law of wills recommended by the Law Commission and a number of these proposals relate to measures to improve safeguards and protections to testators and beneficiaries.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many super-injunctions were in place on 15 August 2025.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government does not routinely publish or hold centralised data on the number of super-injunctions currently in place, due to the sensitive and often confidential nature of such orders.
Where such orders are made, they are typically issued by the High Court under strict judicial oversight and may include provisions that prevent disclosure of their very existence.
Sep. 04 2025
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