Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of (a) compliance and (b) enforcement processes for financial orders made in divorce proceedings; and whether he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a system of automatic (i) monitoring and (ii) enforcement of such orders.

The Government acknowledges that there is clear evidence of challenges faced in financial remedy proceedings on divorce, in relation both to compliance with financial orders and the effectiveness of enforcement where there is a failure to comply. Enforcement in particular is a critical issue within the wider context of domestic abuse, including economic abuse, as failure to secure compliance can perpetuate harm and undermine court orders.

The Family Court has a range of powers to enforce compliance with financial orders, including attachment of earnings orders, third party debt orders, charging orders and orders for sale, warrants of control and committal for contempt of court. The Law Commission published a report in 2016 on enforcement of financial remedy orders and made recommendations for primary and secondary legislative change. These recommendations did not include automatic monitoring or enforcement systems.

The Government launched A Fairer End to Relationships consultation on 5 June, which considers issues relating to domestic abuse and financial proceedings on divorce. The consultation closes on 14 August. Whilst this consultation does not cover the issue of enforcement, the Government continues to recognise its importance and will give further careful consideration to how it might best be addressed.