Children cases between separated parents took 52.7 weeks in London against 14.5 in Wales
Private law children cases in England and Wales took 33.5 weeks on average to conclude in April to June 2026, Ministry of Justice figures show, and neither party had a lawyer in 51% of them.
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Private law children cases, the court applications separated parents make over child arrangements, took an average of 33.5 weeks to conclude in England and Wales in April to June 2026. The figure is from the Ministry of Justice’s Family Court Statistics Quarterly, published on 24 September 2026, and is down 1.2 weeks from 34.6 weeks in the previous quarter.
Key points
- Average time to conclude a private law children case: 33.5 weeks in April to June 2026, down 3.4 weeks from 36.8 weeks a year earlier.
- Median: 24.7 weeks. 52.4% of cases concluded within 26 weeks, against 49.3% a year earlier.
- Longest region: London at 52.7 weeks on average. Shortest: Wales at 14.5 weeks.
- Neither party was legally represented in 6,018 of 11,736 private law cases that concluded (51.3%).
- Cases where both parties had lawyers took 43.8 weeks on average; cases where neither did took 27.9 weeks.
By region
How long a family has to wait depends on where the case is heard:
| Region | Average weeks | Median weeks | Within 26 weeks | Cases concluded | Average a year earlier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 52.7 | 38.8 | 34.5% | 1,460 | 57.7 |
| South East | 41.8 | 32.9 | 40.8% | 1,984 | 43.7 |
| North West | 38.4 | 31.6 | 39.4% | 1,764 | 39.3 |
| South West | 33.7 | 25.1 | 51.4% | 1,412 | 34.7 |
| Midlands | 25.9 | 19.9 | 60.2% | 2,704 | 31.6 |
| North East | 24.3 | 19.6 | 63.2% | 1,790 | 27.4 |
| Wales | 14.5 | 11.0 | 89.5% | 891 | 14.5 |
Within the regions, figures are published for each Designated Family Judge area. Among areas that concluded at least 100 cases in the quarter, the longest averages were in East London (56.4 weeks), West London (53.9 weeks), Central London (51.3 weeks); the shortest were in Swansea (13.1 weeks), South East Wales (13.7 weeks), North Wales (18.5 weeks).
Representation
The same release breaks cases down by who had a lawyer. Neither party was represented in 6,018 of the 11,736 private law cases in this measure, 51.3%. Most private family disputes have been outside the scope of legal aid since April 2013. Cases with lawyers on both sides took longer on average (43.8 weeks against 27.9); the published figures do not show why.
Method
Figures are from the Ministry of Justice’s national and sub-national CSV files for April to June 2026 (release of 24 September 2026). Duration is measured from the start of a case to its final order. Regional and Designated Family Judge figures come from the Children Act 26 weeks file; representation figures from the timeliness file, which counts cases on a slightly different basis (11,736 cases against 12,005), so the two totals do not match exactly. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.