Alistair Strathern
Main Page: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)Department Debates - View all Alistair Strathern's debates with the Ministry of Justice
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Alistair Strathern Excerpts(1 day, 7 hours ago)
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Jake Richards
Of course I will report back to Parliament on progress, as and when appropriate. We want to drive down the time that it takes for public family proceedings to conclude. The 26-week statutory target is currently being missed, and that is not good enough. We have introduced measures; the Minister with responsibility for children and families, my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister), is reforming some of the child social care arrangements. We believe that that will help to shorten and hopefully reduce the need for proceedings, and that will help us to deal with the demand, but the hon. Gentleman is right to raise the issue, and we are on it.
Alistair Strathern (Hitchin) (Lab)
I am grateful to the Minister for meeting one of my constituents recently to hear at first hand about the devastating impact that family court failings have had on her family, but the heartbreaking truth is that I could have chosen from many. All too often, inappropriate, failing processes and long delays cause real trauma. They drive up the risks to which young people are exposed, and exacerbate the already high legal costs for all parties involved. If we drive forward crucial family court reforms, can we make sure that our courts finally serve the young people and families who rely on them?
Jake Richards
My hon. Friend has raised this issue on a number of occasions, and it was really important to meet him, his constituent and her children to discuss that horrific case and the effect that it has had on them. Ultimately, there were two real problems facing his constituents. One was a court system that was struggling with demand, and that made administrative errors that had a real impact on the family. Secondly, the system simply was not working with them, or appreciating the harm that they were suffering. We have to look at the quality but also at the nature of the court process for victims, and we continue to do that.