Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to reduce the delays in hearing cases at Westferry Family Court.

The administration and senior judiciary are working closely together to increase the sitting capacity across the East London Cluster which comprises of East London Family Court, Croydon County and Bromley County Court and to re-balance the volumes of work across the Region.

In recognition of the pressures on family work across the East London Estate, a Nightingale Court was created at Petty France with four additional courts. Additional courts are also being utilised in Stratford Magistrates and the Royal Courts of Justice.

The increased use of digital hearings in family have allowed the court to utilise more part-time judiciary and increase the number of hearings heard on a remote basis, and the introduction of PD36Q* is enabling the court to progress private law cases through the system more quickly.

*PD36Q New Pilot Practice Direction 36Q came into force from 23 April 2020. Pilot PD36Q modifies PD12B (Child Arrangements Programme) to provide temporary local flexibility over procedures for progressing applications for Child Arrangements Orders.