Question
The ex-partner of one of my constituents is subject to a non-molestation order and has been charged with stalking. He repeatedly withdraws consent from school and medical decisions made about their child, forcing my constituent to pay a solicitor to apply to court each time; he will then back down shortly before the hearing. My constituent just misses out on legal aid, owing to her earnings, most of which now go on legal fees. How are the Government reforming the family law courts to prevent such abuse?
Answer
We are introducing new types of order, which will come with legal aid, to allow constituents like the hon. Gentleman’s to be represented without having to venture into their own personal finances. However, we must also make the family court system work much more efficiently, because part of the problem is the number of delays and the countless hearings that victims have to go through simply to protect their families and their children. We will have rolled out the child-focused model across the country by 2029, and in due course we will produce a family justice strategy that will go further on ensuring a more productive and efficient family court system.
Verdict: AMBER (62/100)
The reply sets out concrete steps: legal aid for new order types so parents can be represented, efficiency measures to reduce delays and repeated hearings, a child-focused model due by 2029, and a forthcoming family justice strategy. However, it does not specifically address the issue of repeated withdrawal of consent or applications abandoned before a hearing, so the match to the question is good but not exact. Some of the measures are future-facing, so the person asking may need to return for more detail on that specific point.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is the Government doing to reform the family courts to prevent abuse of the kind described, in which a parent repeatedly withdraws consent to school and medical decisions about their child, forcing the other parent to make court applications that are then abandoned shortly before the hearing? | Addressed | Direct | The reply names concrete reform measures: new order types with legal aid so parents can be represented without personal financial strain (seq 1), efficiency measures to cut delays and repeated hearings (seq 2), a child-focused model rolled out by 2029 (seq 3), and a forthcoming family justice strategy (seq 4). It does not specifically address repeated withdrawal of consent or applications abandoned before hearing, so the fit is good but not exact. |