Family Courts: Standards
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for family court proceedings.
Answered by Sarah Sackman
Good progress is being made to reduce waiting times in the family court. In public law, average case duration was 33 weeks as at the end of May 2025, which is a four-week reduction since May 2024. In private law, the average case duration in was 38 weeks as at the end of May 2025, which is a reduction of just under four weeks since May 2024.
The Family Justice Board has agreed system-wide targets for 2025/26, with a continued focus on tackling delay and reducing outstanding caseloads. In public law, this includes a system wide focus on the Public Law Outline; and in private law, areas delivering a wider rollout of the Pathfinder model which has made significant progress in addressing delays.
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