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Written Question
Surrogacy: Parental Orders
Friday 15th March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government why they do not centrally hold data on the number of Parental Orders awarded each year through the Family Court for England and Wales in cases of surrogacy (1) where the child was born abroad through a commercial surrogacy arrangement, and (2) where the child was born in the United Kingdom through a surrogacy arrangement in which the mother uses her own egg.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The number of these orders is not recorded centrally. The current recording system only collates data on the total number of parental orders made and there is no capability to break the data into further sub-sets of the different types of surrogacy arrangements. Such information can only be obtained through individual analysis of court files at disproportionate cost since they would require a manual search of court records. The Government has no plans to record this information centrally, doing so would require fundamental changes to existing IT systems.

You will be aware that in March 2023 the Law Commission of England and Wales published a joint report with the Scottish Law Commission; “Building families through surrogacy: a new law". The report puts forward recommendations for a robust new system to govern surrogacy in the UK, including recommendations specifically for the family court system.

The Government is currently considering all of the recommendations within the report and will publish a full response in due course. If and when further action is taken in response to the report, we will consider the collection of data in this area rather than risk making piecemeal changes.


Written Question
Surrogacy: Parental Orders
Friday 15th March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to collect and publish data on the number of Parental Orders awarded each year through the Family Court for England and Wales in cases of surrogacy (1) where  the child was born through a commercial surrogacy arrangement abroad (2) where the child was born in the United Kingdom through a surrogacy arrangement in which the surrogate mother uses her own egg, and (3) where a child was born through surrogacy in this country using the egg of a third party egg donor, and not the egg of the commissioning female parent.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The number of these orders is not recorded centrally. The current recording system only collates data on the total number of parental orders made and there is no capability to break the data into further sub-sets of the different types of surrogacy arrangements. Such information can only be obtained through individual analysis of court files at disproportionate cost since they would require a manual search of court records. The Government has no plans to record this information centrally, doing so would require fundamental changes to existing IT systems.

You will be aware that in March 2023 the Law Commission of England and Wales published a joint report with the Scottish Law Commission; “Building families through surrogacy: a new law". The report puts forward recommendations for a robust new system to govern surrogacy in the UK, including recommendations specifically for the family court system.

The Government is currently considering all of the recommendations within the report and will publish a full response in due course. If and when further action is taken in response to the report, we will consider the collection of data in this area rather than risk making piecemeal changes.


Written Question
Parental Orders
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total number of Parental Orders granted for surrogacy arrangements in England and Wales in (1) 2017, (2) 2018, (3) 2019, (4) 2020, (5) 2021, and (6) 2022.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The number of Parental Orders granted where children were conceived through surrogacy using the surrogate mother’s own egg is not recorded centrally.

The number of Parental Orders granted to couples bringing a child in to England and Wales where the child was conceived and carried through a commercial surrogacy arrangement abroad is not recorded centrally.

Such information could only be obtained through individual analysis of court files, at disproportionate cost.

The total number of Parental Orders granted for surrogacy arrangements in England and Wales between 2017 and 2022 can be found in the table below.

Table 1: Number of total Parental Orders made in Public and Private Law (Children Act) in the Family Courts, England and Wales

Year

Total

2017

332

2018

375

2019

445

2020

425

2021

437

2022

449

Source: Family Court Statistics Quarterly

Notes:

1) These orders relate to surrogacy and are made under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act.

2) Please note the 2022 figure only includes Private Law as figures for Public Law are currently unavailable whilst Family Public Law undergoes reform.


Written Question
Parental Orders
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many Parental Orders were granted to couples in England and Wales bringing a child in to this country conceived and carried through a commercial surrogacy arrangement abroad in (1) 2017, (2) 2018, (3) 2019, (4) 2020, (5) 2021, and (6) 2022.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The number of Parental Orders granted where children were conceived through surrogacy using the surrogate mother’s own egg is not recorded centrally.

The number of Parental Orders granted to couples bringing a child in to England and Wales where the child was conceived and carried through a commercial surrogacy arrangement abroad is not recorded centrally.

Such information could only be obtained through individual analysis of court files, at disproportionate cost.

The total number of Parental Orders granted for surrogacy arrangements in England and Wales between 2017 and 2022 can be found in the table below.

Table 1: Number of total Parental Orders made in Public and Private Law (Children Act) in the Family Courts, England and Wales

Year

Total

2017

332

2018

375

2019

445

2020

425

2021

437

2022

449

Source: Family Court Statistics Quarterly

Notes:

1) These orders relate to surrogacy and are made under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act.

2) Please note the 2022 figure only includes Private Law as figures for Public Law are currently unavailable whilst Family Public Law undergoes reform.


Written Question
Parenting Orders
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many Parental Orders were granted through the Family Courts in England and Wales about the number of children conceived through surrogacy using the surrogate mother's own egg in (1) 2017, (2) 2018, (3) 2019, (4) 2020, (5) 2021, and (6) 2022.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The number of Parental Orders granted where children were conceived through surrogacy using the surrogate mother’s own egg is not recorded centrally.

The number of Parental Orders granted to couples bringing a child in to England and Wales where the child was conceived and carried through a commercial surrogacy arrangement abroad is not recorded centrally.

Such information could only be obtained through individual analysis of court files, at disproportionate cost.

The total number of Parental Orders granted for surrogacy arrangements in England and Wales between 2017 and 2022 can be found in the table below.

Table 1: Number of total Parental Orders made in Public and Private Law (Children Act) in the Family Courts, England and Wales

Year

Total

2017

332

2018

375

2019

445

2020

425

2021

437

2022

449

Source: Family Court Statistics Quarterly

Notes:

1) These orders relate to surrogacy and are made under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act.

2) Please note the 2022 figure only includes Private Law as figures for Public Law are currently unavailable whilst Family Public Law undergoes reform.


Written Question
Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bellamy on 21 September (HL10037), how many female genital mutilation protection orders have been breached since 2018; and what steps they have taken in response to those breaches.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.


Written Question
Forced Marriage: Children
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many child marriage convictions there were in the UK each year between 2018 and 2022 inclusive.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.


Written Question
Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders
Thursday 21st September 2023

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many female genital mutilation protection orders were issued in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, and (4) 2022.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Data on the number of female genital mutilation protection orders issued for the period 2019-2022 is routinely published and can be found in the Family Court Statistics Quarterly series available on gov.uk.

The data for the period requested is as follows:

2019

2020

2021

2022

199

136

54

71


Written Question
Female Genital Mutilation: Prosecutions
Thursday 21st September 2023

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether there have been any more female genital prosecutions in the UK since the first conviction in February 2019.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice publishes information on prosecutions and convictions for female genital mutilation (FGM) in the Outcomes by Offence data tool using the following HO code:

  • 00852 - Offences under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003

Since the first conviction in February 2019, there was one prosecution in 2022, and no convictions for the offence of FGM.

The data tool can be accessed via the following link: Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: December 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).


Written Question
Female Genital Mutilation: Prosecutions
Tuesday 10th March 2020

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been (1) prosecuted for, and (2) found guilty of, female genital mutilation in the UK.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

In the period between the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 coming into force and 31 December 2018, there were 6 prosecutions and 0 convictions for female genital mutilation offences.

The media, however, reported on one conviction early in 2019, but that covers a period for which statistics will be published in May 2020.