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Family court cases started: children, England and Wales

Public law, private law and adoption cases started in the family courts of England and Wales each quarter since 2011, and all family court cases of every type, from the Ministry of Justice's family court statistics.

All family court cases

67,843

Q2 2026

Verified against source, 4 November 2026, 02:00 UTC
Family court cases started: children, England and Wales
  • Public law
  • Private law
  • Adoption
  • All family court cases
020k40k60k80kQ1 2011Q4 2013Q3 2016Q2 2019Q1 2022Q2 2026

Source: Ministry of Justice. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Data table

62 periods, newest first

PeriodPublic lawPrivate lawAdoptionAll family court cases
Q2 20264,28114,8331,84367,843
Q1 20264,14815,5531,91571,935
Q4 20254,00614,0631,97164,841
Q3 20254,14714,5831,90169,841
Q2 20254,24713,3271,90267,189
Q1 20253,95013,3412,04068,982
Q4 20244,00012,3561,92161,809
Q3 20244,07313,1031,94666,709
Q2 20243,82512,5232,09064,811
Q1 20244,08013,5142,01568,533
Q4 20233,89412,1442,06460,663
Q3 20233,93812,9372,05366,776
Q2 20233,84512,5172,12665,237
Q1 20233,87613,2462,23369,951
Q4 20224,01412,2601,90161,281
Q3 20224,11213,6582,08768,074
Q2 20224,15813,0122,13771,425
Q1 20224,25913,2292,04568,356
Q4 20214,24812,4042,08259,491
Q3 20214,12513,8452,00865,966
Q2 20214,17214,0322,25068,263
Q1 20214,13214,4472,45172,460
Q4 20204,49414,0182,51570,786
Q3 20204,80015,3802,26970,119
Q2 20204,51012,6312,02957,947
Q1 20204,45713,7842,41966,957
Q4 20194,65313,7392,49365,279
Q3 20194,77314,3742,52568,760
Q2 20194,70013,5822,60065,304
Q1 20194,50813,8092,78067,806
Q4 20184,73413,1372,79064,871
Q3 20184,72213,6562,72866,756
Q2 20184,89113,1652,74268,567
Q1 20184,96012,3632,84363,386
Q4 20174,74012,1472,84460,975
Q3 20174,94013,2972,84165,287
Q2 20174,86712,7392,89863,387
Q1 20174,84212,8503,16165,742
Q4 20164,75111,8832,97262,521
Q3 20164,99112,7252,95364,068
Q2 20164,89312,2173,10666,264
Q1 20164,57411,5383,15863,001
Q4 20154,27311,1823,14962,427
Q3 20154,12611,1473,29361,664
Q2 20153,95210,4772,99559,866
Q1 20153,87810,5473,38760,863
Q4 20143,84910,3563,08658,882
Q3 20143,89510,6483,24361,613
Q2 20143,5649,2713,29857,711
Q1 20143,81012,0323,45763,262
Q4 20133,77811,5753,43060,568
Q3 20133,72314,0033,96066,533
Q2 20133,89615,5803,81071,428
Q1 20133,96313,5723,60267,018
Q4 20123,96712,7603,41064,240
Q3 20124,07213,7263,34867,366
Q2 20123,68812,4003,12364,559
Q1 20123,91913,2223,28669,753
Q4 20113,81912,1962,77764,017
Q3 20113,90212,8572,76269,264
Q2 20113,68110,5592,60659,123
Q1 20113,85613,4972,94671,267

Download CSVDownload JSON with full provenance

Source and licence

Publisher
Ministry of Justice
Check it yourself
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly
Licence
Open Government Licence v3.0 – Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Retrieved
4 November 2026, 01:56 UTC
Raw files fetched

Verification

Verified against source, 4 November 2026, 02:00 UTC Run at 4 November 2026, 02:00 UTC; 248 of 248 figures matched the live source.

ResultCheckDetail
PassProvenance recordedMinistry of Justice; Open Government Licence v3.0; retrieved 2026-11-04T01:56:48Z; 2 raw file(s)
PassRaw files match recorded SHA-2562 of 2 files intact
PassRe-parsing raw files reproduces figures248 of 248 figures and the headline reproduced
PassFigures are finite numbers248 figures, 0 invalid
PassLive source matches every figure248 of 248 figures match exactly after downloading 2 source file(s) again (2 byte-identical); the headline matches
PassGOV.UK table is currentlatest period 2026-06-30 ended 127 days before retrieval (limit 200), from Family Court Accessible Tables: April to June 2026
PassThe release's bulletin agrees1 of 1 figures the bulletin https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2026/family-court-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2026 states match, each rounded half up as it rounds them
PassThe case types add up to all cases12 of 12 cases of Table 1's quarters with every type given sum to its total
PassThe quarters add up to each year123 of 123 cases of Table 1's years and types with all four quarters given sum to the year's figure
PassThe release's CSV adds up to public and private law124 of 124 cases of the quarters' public and private law cases started equal the rows of the release's CSV (CSV Children Act 2026 Q2.csv) summed
PassSource page answershttps://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly – HTTP 200

Notes

  • Public law cases are brought by councils to protect children, through care and supervision orders; private law cases are between parents or others about where children live and whom they see. All family court cases counts every type, those on the page of other family cases included.
  • Many placement orders now come within public law proceedings rather than separate adoption cases, so some cases (about 500 to 800 a quarter) may be counted in both, as the Ministry of Justice notes.