wrans/answers2025-09-08 conversation_252
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-08 conversation_252

Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many open family cases there were in each Designated Family Judge area as of 23 July 2025, broken down by (a) public law and (b) private law; and what proportion of those cases involved litigants in person. \p Sarah Sackman: The information requested is provided in the data tables below up until 31 March 2025, aligning with the time period published in the Ministry of Justice’s official statistics. All data is taken from HMCTS administrative systems.

Caseload data by Designated Family Judge area:

Count of the Public Law Open Caseload as at the 31 March 2025 broken down to reflect whether parties to proceedings have legal representation

Designated Family Judge Area

Both Applicant and Respondent

Applicant only

Respondent only

Neither Applicant nor Respondent

Total

Birmingham

190

11

0

1

202

Blackburn/Lancaster

304

21

0

0

325

Bournemouth and Dorset

76

2

0

0

78

Brighton

205

10

0

0

215

Bristol (A, NS and G)

232

6

0

1

239

Business Centres

0

0

0

0

0

Carlisle

98

8

0

1

107

Central London

529

20

1

2

552

Cleveland and South Durham

259

24

0

3

286

Coventry

100

7

0

0

107

Derby

158

4

0

0

162

Devon

246

20

0

1

267

East London

535

18

0

1

554

Essex and Suffolk

319

13

0

1

332

Humberside

220

12

0

0

232

Leicester

124

3

0

0

127

Lincoln

96

5

0

0

101

Liverpool

493

52

1

6

552

Luton

119

7

0

0

126

Manchester

721

37

0

3

761

Medway and Canterbury

342

5

0

2

349

Milton Keynes

140

4

0

0

144

North Wales

99

9

0

0

108

North Yorkshire

94

5

0

2

101

Northampton

98

3

0

0

101

Northumbria and North Durham

397

26

0

8

431

Norwich

100

3

0

0

103

Nottingham

131

7

0

0

138

Peterborough and Cambridge

139

3

0

0

142

Portsmouth (Hampshire and IOW)

194

21

0

2

217

Reading

239

7

1

1

248

Royal Courts of Justice

44

0

0

0

44

South East Wales

216

25

0

3

244

South Yorkshire

273

13

0

0

286

Stoke on Trent

162

19

0

2

183

Surrey

89

4

0

1

94

Swansea

100

13

0

0

113

Swindon

63

1

0

1

65

Taunton

99

5

0

0

104

Truro

66

4

0

0

70

Watford

85

4

0

2

91

West London

385

14

0

1

400

West Yorkshire

342

29

0

3

374

Wolverhampton

283

16

0

0

299

Worcester

76

6

0

3

85

England and Wales

9,280

526

3

51

9,860

Count of the Private Law Open Caseload as at the 31 March 2025 broken down to reflect whether parties to proceedings have legal representation

Designated Family Judge Area

Both Applicant and Respondent

Applicant only

Respondent only

Neither Applicant nor Respondent

Total

Birmingham

106

139

113

232

590

Blackburn/Lancaster

148

208

132

388

876

Bournemouth and Dorset

42

52

49

114

257

Brighton

128

244

179

734

1285

Bristol (A, NS and G)

223

205

158

458

1044

Business Centres

0

1

0

7

8

Carlisle

46

58

39

106

249

Central London

328

446

338

985

2097

Cleveland and South Durham

113

92

90

154

449

Coventry

81

90

82

164

417

Derby

107

88

98

194

487

Devon

171

185

170

310

836

East London

346

484

416

881

2127

Essex and Suffolk

305

394

320

894

1913

Humberside

72

115

89

232

508

Leicester

111

134

114

273

632

Lincoln

69

69

51

112

301

Liverpool

271

300

276

608

1455

Luton

83

123

114

318

638

Manchester

407

548

421

1094

2470

Medway and Canterbury

197

292

260

788

1537

Milton Keynes

48

72

73

169

362

North Wales

58

46

42

55

201

North Yorkshire

79

79

64

106

328

Northampton

42

53

58

206

359

Northumbria and North Durham

229

209

159

293

890

Norwich

90

104

99

225

518

Nottingham

135

189

140

269

733

Peterborough and Cambridge

119

145

100

357

721

Portsmouth (Hampshire and IOW)

177

269

208

781

1435

Reading

169

262

206

473

1110

Royal Courts of Justice

90

428

32

281

831

South East Wales

83

104

71

179

437

South Yorkshire

115

140

112

203

570

Stoke on Trent

89

101

81

204

475

Surrey

144

160

125

395

824

Swansea

139

126

65

94

424

Swindon

41

60

44

196

341

Taunton

73

64

67

144

348

Truro

85

66

58

170

379

Watford

117

162

151

386

816

West London

415

494

405

953

2267

West Yorkshire

225

280

173

409

1087

Wolverhampton

226

243

167

405

1041

Worcester

78

79

70

130

357

England and Wales

6,420

8,202

6,279

16,129

37,030

Notes:

The HMCTS data provided above is in line with latest MoJ statistics.

Self-representation is determined by the field 'legal representation' in Familyman being left blank. Therefore, this is only a proxy measure and parties without a recorded representative are not necessarily self-representing litigants in person.

A party is considered 'applicant-represented' if at least one applicant has a recorded representative, and likewise for respondents.

The majority of Public law applicants are public bodies with access to their own legal resources - however, this legal representation is often not recorded. To address this we introduced a methodology which assumes that all public body applicants have legal representation.