Public law children case starts level off in 2018 but average time of disposal increases: report
The number of public law children cases started in 2018 was down by less than 1% compared to 2017, government statistics have suggested.
The Family Court Statistics Quarterly, England and Wales, Annual 2018 said there were 19,037 public law cases started in 2018.
The report, which was released last month, also revealed that the number of disposals in 2018 increased by 3% to 17,588, “reflecting the time lag from application to first order being made”.
Timeliness for care proceedings meanwhile increased in 2018 for the third year in a row. The average time for a care or supervision case to reach first disposal was 30 weeks in 2018, up two weeks from 2017.
Only 49% of these care proceedings were disposed of within the 26-week limit introduced in the Children and Families Act 2014 – down eight percentage points compared to 2017.
In 2018, there were 5,104 adoption order applications, down 6% on 2017. The number of adoption orders issued also decreased in 2018, by 9% compared to 2017, reaching the lowest annual total since 2011.
Other findings in the report were:
- A general upward trend continues in the number of forced marriage protection orders and female genital mutilation protection orders, although numbers are relatively low - there were 324 FMPO orders and 143 FGMPO orders made in 2018.
- There were 4,557 Deprivation of Liberty (DoL) applications in 2018, up 14% compared to 2017. Similarly, DoL orders were up 4% over the same period.
A copy of the report can be found here.
Earlier this month Local Government Lawyer reported how Cafcass statistics suggested a 4.8% fall in care order applications in 2018/19 to 13,536.
