Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2025 to Question 95260 on Home Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure any training delivered to local authorities is holistic and trauma informed.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is engaging with the Information Commissioner’s Office on the Data Protection Impact Assessment for the Children Not in School registers to ensure that all data protection risks have been identified and mitigated before any processing of data begins.
The department has also held discussions with both Women’s Aid and the NSPCC, and other domestic abuse organisations, such as SafeLives, on the Children Not in School registers. We recognise the importance of protecting survivors of abuse and have worked with these partners to understand the implications of the Children Not in School measures and how concerns about access to data and identification can be resolved. We will continue this engagement ahead of implementation, including to inform our statutory guidance.
We will also commission and deliver training for all local authorities on the Children Not in School requirements and how they interact effectively with home education and alternative education approaches. This will be co-developed and co-delivered by home education representatives, and we will engage with relevant stakeholders, including safeguarding and domestic abuse organisations, as appropriate.
Funding will be provided to support local authorities to fulfil their new duties under the Children Not in School measures.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2025 to Question 95257 on Children: Data protection, whether her Department has consulted with the ICO on the safety of the increased amount of children's data to be held on the Children Not In School Register; and what steps she is taking to ensure this data is protected from data leaks and inappropriate sharing.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is engaging with the Information Commissioner’s Office on the Data Protection Impact Assessment for the Children Not in School registers to ensure that all data protection risks have been identified and mitigated before any processing of data begins.
The department has also held discussions with both Women’s Aid and the NSPCC, and other domestic abuse organisations, such as SafeLives, on the Children Not in School registers. We recognise the importance of protecting survivors of abuse and have worked with these partners to understand the implications of the Children Not in School measures and how concerns about access to data and identification can be resolved. We will continue this engagement ahead of implementation, including to inform our statutory guidance.
We will also commission and deliver training for all local authorities on the Children Not in School requirements and how they interact effectively with home education and alternative education approaches. This will be co-developed and co-delivered by home education representatives, and we will engage with relevant stakeholders, including safeguarding and domestic abuse organisations, as appropriate.
Funding will be provided to support local authorities to fulfil their new duties under the Children Not in School measures.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Department plans to publish a child maintenance arrears reduction strategy for the next five years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government is committed to maximising the effectiveness of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), which plays a vital role in ensuring that children receive the financial support to which they are entitled. Only 7 per cent of the total maintenance due since the CMS commenced operations in 2012 remains outstanding through the Collect and Pay service.
Significant reforms to the CMS have already been announced setting out our intention to move to a single service where all payments will be collected and transferred on behalf of parents. This reform will enable the CMS to address non-compliance more swiftly and provide enhanced support to victims and survivors of domestic abuse.
The CMS have a strong range of enforcement powers and continually review how these can be strengthened to improve the CMS’s ability to deploy enforcement measures more widely and select the most appropriate action in each case.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the financial equitableness when only one parent receives legal aid in family court proceedings.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The eligibility for family legal aid does not discriminate as between Mothers and Fathers. In any case, the eligibility criteria apply equally to both.
The legal aid framework was reformed by previous governments through the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO). In 2019, the then Government published a post-implementation review of LASPO; the outcome of that review, including in relation to legal aid in family proceedings, is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-implementation-review-of-part-1-of-laspo. Furthermore, between January 2023 and March 2025, the Ministry of Justice undertook a comprehensive Review of Civil Legal Aid (RoCLA); all reports are available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/civil-legal-aid-review, this includes a deep dive on legal aid in family law cases.
Non means tested legal aid is available for parents and those with parental responsibility in most public family special Children Act 1989 cases, including care proceedings as well as related proceedings. A light-touch merits test is applied, so that only the need for representation is considered. As a result, more than one parent may be eligible for legal aid.
Legal aid is available in some private family matters for individuals experiencing, or at risk of, domestic abuse; for individuals (for example, parents) where the child who is the subject of the order is a victim of child abuse or at risk of abuse; for people under the age of 18; in certain cases of international or domestic abduction; for family mediation where there is a family dispute; and for certain urgent protection applications – for example, non-molestation orders. To be eligible for legal aid in these cases, means and merits tests usually need to be met, and evidence of domestic abuse also needs to be provided.
It is possible for both parties to receive legal aid in private family proceedings, if the case is in scope of LASPO and both parties meet the statutory eligibility and evidence requirements, where applicable. It is however also possible under LASPO for only one party to receive legal aid. This is due to the overall intention of LASPO which is to target legal aid to particularly vulnerable cohorts and those most in need.
Where an issue falls outside the scope of legal aid, eligible individuals may be able to obtain Exceptional Case Funding where they can show that, without the provision of legal aid, there is a risk that their human rights may be breached.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to increase support for victims of domestic abuse, including early intervention and safeguarding.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This government recognises the devastating impact of domestic abuse on victims, which is why we have set the ambitious target to halve VAWG in a decade. Prevention and early intervention will sit at the heart of the forthcoming Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, with a focus on addressing the root causes of VAWG including supporting our education system to teach children about respectful and healthy relationships and consent.
In May 2025 we announced a £19.9m investment to provide vital support to victims of VAWG, increase awareness of VAWG and actively prevent these horrific crimes. This includes over £6 million for national helplines supporting victims of domestic abuse, 'honour'-based abuse, revenge porn and stalking and £2.5m on prevention and early intervention.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Family Court system, particularly in cases where one parent is legally represented and the other is not.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government does not record the number of litigants who were unable to present their case properly due to lack of representation. The Ministry of Justice publish official statistics includes legal representation data in the following: Family_Court_Tables__Apr-Jun_2025_.ods
The Government is committed to ensuring all court users can access justice fairly. HMCTS offers practical guidance and intermediary support for litigants in person, while wider legal help is available through organisations funded by over £6 million from the Ministry of Justice (April 2025–March 2026), including online resources like Advicenow.
We have not made a specific assessment of the delays in cases involving litigants in person. However, published statistics show that cases where both parties, or the respondent only, had legal representation generally took longer to conclude than those where only the applicant was represented or both parties were unrepresented.
We recognise the impact delays have on families and are taking action to improve outcomes. In private law proceedings relating to children, Pathfinder courts are reducing case durations, delivering some of the fastest times nationally and providing better support for vulnerable parties, including domestic abuse survivors.
This Government has not made an assessment of judicial outcomes. The Judiciary are constitutionally independent from the Government. Commenting on or evaluating judicial decisions would risk undermining this independence.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many litigants in person report that they were unable to present their case properly due to lack of representation in each of the last five years; and what assessment he has made of the effect on judicial outcomes in family court proceedings.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government does not record the number of litigants who were unable to present their case properly due to lack of representation. The Ministry of Justice publish official statistics includes legal representation data in the following: Family_Court_Tables__Apr-Jun_2025_.ods
The Government is committed to ensuring all court users can access justice fairly. HMCTS offers practical guidance and intermediary support for litigants in person, while wider legal help is available through organisations funded by over £6 million from the Ministry of Justice (April 2025–March 2026), including online resources like Advicenow.
We have not made a specific assessment of the delays in cases involving litigants in person. However, published statistics show that cases where both parties, or the respondent only, had legal representation generally took longer to conclude than those where only the applicant was represented or both parties were unrepresented.
We recognise the impact delays have on families and are taking action to improve outcomes. In private law proceedings relating to children, Pathfinder courts are reducing case durations, delivering some of the fastest times nationally and providing better support for vulnerable parties, including domestic abuse survivors.
This Government has not made an assessment of judicial outcomes. The Judiciary are constitutionally independent from the Government. Commenting on or evaluating judicial decisions would risk undermining this independence.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of delays in the family courts caused by litigants in person on (a) one and (b) both sides of a case.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government does not record the number of litigants who were unable to present their case properly due to lack of representation. The Ministry of Justice publish official statistics includes legal representation data in the following: Family_Court_Tables__Apr-Jun_2025_.ods
The Government is committed to ensuring all court users can access justice fairly. HMCTS offers practical guidance and intermediary support for litigants in person, while wider legal help is available through organisations funded by over £6 million from the Ministry of Justice (April 2025–March 2026), including online resources like Advicenow.
We have not made a specific assessment of the delays in cases involving litigants in person. However, published statistics show that cases where both parties, or the respondent only, had legal representation generally took longer to conclude than those where only the applicant was represented or both parties were unrepresented.
We recognise the impact delays have on families and are taking action to improve outcomes. In private law proceedings relating to children, Pathfinder courts are reducing case durations, delivering some of the fastest times nationally and providing better support for vulnerable parties, including domestic abuse survivors.
This Government has not made an assessment of judicial outcomes. The Judiciary are constitutionally independent from the Government. Commenting on or evaluating judicial decisions would risk undermining this independence.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to help low-income, vulnerable people such as domestic abuse survivors who are moved into unfurnished social housing without any furniture or white goods, nor the financial means to acquire them.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
My Department engages actively with registered providers of social housing and a wide range of stakeholders on issues affecting tenants, including groups such as End Furniture Poverty to understand their work on this matter.
On 2 July, we launched a consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the social and private rented sectors, which included proposals for the Government to develop best practice guidance for all landlords, including information on how tenants in need can access support for furniture provision. The consultation has now closed, and responses are being analysed. More details on future guidance will be published as part of the Government’s formal response.
In the meantime, people living without essential furniture may be able to access support through their local authority, including via the Household Support Fund and other locally available services. My Department is also allocating £10.9 million of funding this year to 61 local authorities in England with the highest numbers of children in temporary accommodation, to increase access to support and services. More information (attached) is available on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the current fee levels for family legal aid on the retention and recruitment of legal practitioners undertaking work in private law (a) children and (b) domestic abuse cases.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
It is vital that those who need legal aid – including some of the most vulnerable people in society - can access it wherever they live.
Between January 2023 and March 2025, the Ministry of Justice undertook a comprehensive Review of Civil Legal Aid (RoCLA) to identify issues facing the system and improve its sustainability. The review has concluded, and all reports are available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/civil-legal-aid-review, this includes a deep dive on legal aid in family law cases.
According to the RoCLA Provider Survey, a higher proportion of family legal aid providers reported being profitable compared to providers in all other categories of law. Family legal aid providers were also significantly less likely to report that they would leave the sector in the next five years. On the other hand, the evidence from the review also indicated that the housing and debt, and immigration and asylum sectors face particularly more acute challenges with service provision and high demand. Therefore, following a consultation, we announced uplifts to housing and debt, and immigration and asylum legal aid fees, which will inject £20 million into the sector each year once fully implemented. This investment will help the Government to reduce the asylum backlog, end hotel use, increase returns and ensure the most vulnerable can access justice. The evidence gathered by RoCLA informed this consultation and the review will continue to shape future policy direction.
The Ministry of Justice is looking at other potential changes that could support providers and aid recruitment and retention. This includes, (civil) contractual requirements regarding provider offices and limits to the provision of remote legal aid that providers say are burdensome. Any changes would aim to give providers more autonomy in meeting client need, while maintaining effective in-person provision for clients who need this. We are committed to supporting the recruitment and retention of legal aid practitioners and have provided up to £1.4 million in 2024 and up to a further £1.7 million in 2025 to meet the costs of accrediting and reaccrediting caseworkers to conduct immigration and asylum legal aid work, and we have provided £1.5 million in grant funding for the recruitment of trainee housing solicitors.
The Legal Aid Agency regularly reviews available supply to make sure there is adequate provision for legal aid, in all categories of law, and works with the Ministry of Justice to take operational action where it can respond to market pressures that may arise.