Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the number of child custody cases heard in court (a) prior to and (b) since the removal of legal aid for early advice per year.

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) came into force in April 2013.

A new form of child arrangements order was introduced on 22 April 2014 to replace the former separate contact and residence orders (formerly known as “access” and “custody” respectively).

The number of applications made for a residence order, or a child arrangements order making provision for a child’s residence in England Wales, since 2011 is shown in the table below.

Number of private law applications for a residence order or child arrangements order making provision for a child’s residence in England and Wales since 2011