Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Government action to protect children from abusive parents, published on 22 October 2025, how he plans to enact the repeal of the presumption of parental involvement from the Children Act 1989; and what his planned timetable is for that repeal.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government will repeal the presumption of parental involvement when Parliamentary time allows. Doing so requires amendments to the Children Act 1989 which will be taken forward once an appropriate legislative vehicle is identified. This remains a Ministerial priority, and we will announce further plans for implementation in due course.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many family court cases the father acted as a litigant in person due to lack of access to (a) legal aid and (b) representation in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
It is not possible to identify from the data whether the mother or father was represented during proceedings. However, representation can be broken down by applicant and respondent, and this information is published in the Family Court Statistics Quarterly collection. The latest publication is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly
Reasons why parties may not have been represented are not held centrally.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what was the average financial cost for people meeting their own legal fees in family court proceedings in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice does not hold records on the average financial cost for people meeting their own legal fees in family court proceedings. These are private arrangements and there is no statutory requirement for them to be reported.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what is the full scope of the five point action plan to tackle release inaccuracy announced by him on 11 November 2025.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Releases in error are never acceptable, and we are bearing down on those errors that do occur.
Releases in error have always existed, and are another long-term symptom of the prison system crisis this Government inherited. While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, we are taking decisive action to address this issue to reduce the risk of future mistakes.
On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan. This includes:
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of applications for legal aid in family proceedings have been granted to mothers in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Legal Aid Agency does not specifically track or report on grants of legal aid broken down by whether the applicant was a mother or father as the same eligibility criteria are applicable to all parents and persons with parental responsibility. The requested information could only be obtained by manually reviewing individual applications at disproportionate cost to the Department.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for legal aid in family proceedings were granted to fathers in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Legal Aid Agency does not specifically track or report on grants of legal aid broken down by whether the applicant was a mother or father as the same eligibility criteria are applicable to all parents and persons with parental responsibility. The requested information could only be obtained by manually reviewing individual applications at disproportionate cost to the Department.
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: Robert Jenrick (Conservative - Newark)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to visit HMP Wandsworth.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Ministers regularly visit prisons across the country. Any plans to visit specific prisons will be notified to the relevant Members of Parliament in advance.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps are being taken to find prisoners who were released by accident.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Any release in error is unacceptable, and public safety is the Government’s first duty. In such cases, we coordinate across multiple agencies including the police to ensure individuals are returned to custody. The majority of those released in error are recaptured swiftly.
Releases in error are another long-term symptom of the prison system crisis this Government inherited. While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, we are bearing down on those errors that do occur.
On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan. This includes strengthening release checks across prisons, a multi-million pound investment in new technology, and an independent review, which will report its recommendations in spring next year.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the official closing date under section 14 of the Inquiries Act 2005 was for the public inquiries entitled (a) Inquiry into the circumstances of the Death of Bernard Lodge at Manchester Prison on 28 August 1998 and (b) Azelle Rodney Inquiry.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Chairs of the Bernard Lodge and Azelle Rodney Inquiries completed their investigations and submitted reports, which were published on 15 December 2009 and 5 July 2013, respectively.