Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the report of the panel assessing risk of harm to children and parents in private law children cases.

On 21 May 2019 we announced a public call for evidence led by a panel of experts to gather evidence on how the family courts protect children and parents in cases of domestic abuse and other serious offences.

The panel completed the call for evidence in September 2019, and published a Progress Update in October outlining the work completed and next steps.

The panel has been meeting regularly to discuss the wealth of evidence collected from 1,200 individuals and organisations, and are in the process of finalising their report. It is right that they take the time to analyse this data and to consider their recommendations for how the family courts can be reformed to improve the experiences of victims of harm. A full report outlining their findings and recommended next steps will be published by Spring 2020.