To ask His Majesty's Government, how many parents whose children were subject to applications to deprive them of their liberty under (1) the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court, and (2) a secure accommodation order, were legally represented during the court proceedings in the last five years; and what percentage of such parents this represents.
Answered on
8 March 2023
Information regarding legal representation of parents whose children were subject to applications to deprive them of their liberty under the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court is held by the government as unstructured information within the family court administrative system and the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Information regarding the number of respondents that were legally represented in cases where children were subject to applications to deprive them of their liberty under a secure accommodation order is provided in the table below (this does not include the children themselves who are always entitled to legal representation).
Applications for secure accommodation orders for children can, and often are, made as standalone applications following the conclusion of proceedings which may have taken place to remove the child from the care of their parents, meaning their involvement in the new proceedings may be limited which in turn may limit the requirement for legal representation. In other instances, proceedings may be made at the request of the parents themselves and they therefore work alongside the local authority without separate legal representation.
Cases / Respondents with Application for Secure Accommodation Order | ||||
Issued January 2018 to September 2022 | ||||
Management Information | ||||
Year of Issue of Application | Cases* | Respondents** | Represented Respondents† | % Represented |
2018 | 499 | 886 | 185 | 21% |
2019 | 483 | 856 | 152 | 18% |
2020 | 379 | 682 | 141 | 21% |
2021 | 389 | 714 | 133 | 19% |
To end September 2022 | 222 | 406 | 60 | 15% |
1,972 | 3,544 | 671 | 19% | |
* Cases with at least one application in the period for a secure accommodation order **Respondents include, but are not limited to, parents of the child. | ||||
† Representative is recorded on case management system as acting for the party | ||||
This is Management Information, the data is taken from a live management information system and can change over time and may differ from previously published data. In July 2022 the President of the Family Division launched a national deprivation of liberty (DOL) court at the Royal Courts of Justice for a pilot period of 12 months. This pilot is being monitored by the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory who have full access to the data. The Government will consider carefully the results of this pilot when they are available. | ||||