Last year saw the steepest rise in private law applications in the last 10 years

Over the past decade, demand has fluctuated in the family courts, so we should be cautious about overinterpreting what may be behind relatively small variations in new cases.  Although the growth in cases in private law this year has been particularly steep, case starts in the past five years have been lower than pre-pandemic levels, and the increase this year marks a return to the levels last seen in 2019 and 2020.

The increase in cases does not yet appear to have had an impact on the duration of proceedings, which has been decreasing in both public and private law cases. For care proceedings, the average length of case is now 37.5 weeks, the lowest since 2020, and 38% of cases are now concluded within the 26-week timeframe. In private law, the average case length was falling up until the second quarter of 2025 (however publication of this metric has now been paused by the MoJ due to concerns with the data).

How can we understand what might be driving an increase in private law cases? It is unlikely to be one single factor. At a demographic level, the number of children being born is declining (Office for National Statistics 2025), and estimates of separated families have remained broadly stable (Department for Work and Pensions 2026), so it is unlikely to be driven solely by population-level trends. Some of the growth may be linked to social challenges related to the cost-of-living crisis and lack of community provision, which could have previously helped to reduce conflict and divert parents from court (such as the capacity of early help or domestic violence services). However, these system challenges predate the rise in cases, which has been seen most acutely in the past year. There have been some suggestions that it may also be driven by technological change, such as the use of AI chatbots, which can validate feelings and encourage parents to seek court resolution to conflicts as well as support them to make applications.

If we look across the system of His Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), there are other indications that families and separated parents are increasingly using the court the usage of the courts for families and separated parents is increasing. For example, in 2024/25, the number of child support tribunals peaked at 5,942 – a 30% increase on the previous year. The number of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) tribunals has also risen significantly, with nearly 80% growth over the past two years. While both of these areas will have separate policy reforms and contexts that will also be driving increases, it highlights the growing role of the justice system as a mechanism for families to obtain support, resolve conflicts or navigate complex family challenges.

There has been an increase in demand across family courts and tribunals

For now, it is too early to say if this increasing trend in private law cases will last in the longer term, or whether we will see a stabilisation or fall around these levels of demand. Current family justice reforms, such as the roll-out of child-focused courts, may also impact these figures in the future, so longer-term tracking is needed.

A long-term perspective

Private law

Private law applications outnumber public law applications by more than 3 to 1 and the number of private law cases in any one year has fluctuated more than in public law. Since 2011, applications have peaked at over 55,000 on three occasions: in 2013 (just before the introduction of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), which then saw a drastic drop), before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and this year in 2025.

Public law

According to MoJ data, over the past decade annual public law applications have fluctuated between 15,000 and 20,000 and have fallen from a peak of 19,389 in 2016. The annual number of individual children in public law proceedings has also fallen from a high of nearly 32,000 in 2018, to 27,689 (a 3% increase from the previous year). Care orders remain the most common type of application and order, with 12,433 applications and 8,087 orders in 2025. Despite this relative decline, we have seen a rise in children in care, in part due to the rise in the use of section 20 arrangements (which do not go through the family courts), including an increase in unaccompanied asylum seeking children and due to children staying in care for longer periods of time.

To find out more about data in the family justice system please see our family justice infographic and data tracker.