Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time is for first hearings in private family law cases.

The average waiting time for first hearings in private family law cases is nine weeks, as at Q2 2025 (April to June 2025). This is an improvement of one week when compared to the end of Q1 2025 (January to March 2025) and a two-week reduction when compared to 2022.

Only cases with a recorded proceeded hearing are included in the calculation (receipt to hearing). 'Proceeded' cases are those where the hearing was not vacated, and the case had not closed before the hearing was due.