Written questions by Lowe.

How many litigants in person report that they were unable to present their case properly due to lack of representation in each of the last five years; and what assessment he has made of the effect on judicial outcomes in family court proceedings.

The Government does not record the number of litigants who were unable to present their case properly due to lack of representation. The Ministry of Justice publish official statistics includes legal representation data in the following: Family_Court_Tables__Apr-Jun_2025_.odsThe Government is committed to ensuring all court users can access justice fairly. HMCTS offers practical guidance and intermediary support for litigants in person, while wider legal help is available through organisations funded by over £6 million from the Ministry of Justice (April 2025–March 2026), including online resources like Advicenow.We have not made a specific assessment of the delays in cases involving litigants in person. However, published statistics show that cases where both parties, or the respondent only, had legal representation generally took longer to conclude than those where only the applicant was represented or both parties were unrepresented.We recognise the impact delays have on families and are taking action to improve outcomes. In private law proceedings relating to children, Pathfinder courts are reducing case durations, delivering some of the fastest times nationally and providing better support for vulnerable parties, including domestic abuse survivors.This Government has not made an assessment of judicial outcomes. The Judiciary are constitutionally independent from the Government. Commenting on or evaluating judicial decisions would risk undermining this independence.

What is the total annual cost of legal aid issued in cases where one party subsequently (a) breaches court orders, (b) refuses contact arrangements and (c) obstructs proceedings.

The requested information is not centrally held.

What assessment he has made of trends in the level of delays in the family courts caused by litigants in person on (a) one and (b) both sides of a case.

The Government does not record the number of litigants who were unable to present their case properly due to lack of representation. The Ministry of Justice publish official statistics includes legal representation data in the following: Family_Court_Tables__Apr-Jun_2025_.odsThe Government is committed to ensuring all court users can access justice fairly. HMCTS offers practical guidance and intermediary support for litigants in person, while wider legal help is available through organisations funded by over £6 million from the Ministry of Justice (April 2025–March 2026), including online resources like Advicenow.We have not made a specific assessment of the delays in cases involving litigants in person. However, published statistics show that cases where both parties, or the respondent only, had legal representation generally took longer to conclude than those where only the applicant was represented or both parties were unrepresented.We recognise the impact delays have on families and are taking action to improve outcomes. In private law proceedings relating to children, Pathfinder courts are reducing case durations, delivering some of the fastest times nationally and providing better support for vulnerable parties, including domestic abuse survivors.This Government has not made an assessment of judicial outcomes. The Judiciary are constitutionally independent from the Government. Commenting on or evaluating judicial decisions would risk undermining this independence.

How many and what proportion of applications for legal aid in family proceedings have been granted to mothers in each of the last five years.

The Legal Aid Agency does not specifically track or report on grants of legal aid broken down by whether the applicant was a mother or father as the same eligibility criteria are applicable to all parents and persons with parental responsibility. The requested information could only be obtained by manually reviewing individual applications at disproportionate cost to the Department.

In what proportion of family court cases did only one party receiving legal aid in each of the last five years.

The requested information is not centrally held.

How many applications for legal aid in family proceedings were granted to fathers in each of the last five years.

The Legal Aid Agency does not specifically track or report on grants of legal aid broken down by whether the applicant was a mother or father as the same eligibility criteria are applicable to all parents and persons with parental responsibility. The requested information could only be obtained by manually reviewing individual applications at disproportionate cost to the Department.

What mechanisms exist to coordinate information between criminal courts and family courts.

The Disclosure of Information between Family and Criminal Agencies and Jurisdictions: Protocol 2024 came into effect on 1 March 2024 and applies to the exchange of information and material between criminal and family agencies and jurisdictions.

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Family Court system, particularly in cases where one parent is legally represented and the other is not.

The Government does not record the number of litigants who were unable to present their case properly due to lack of representation. The Ministry of Justice publish official statistics includes legal representation data in the following: Family_Court_Tables__Apr-Jun_2025_.odsThe Government is committed to ensuring all court users can access justice fairly. HMCTS offers practical guidance and intermediary support for litigants in person, while wider legal help is available through organisations funded by over £6 million from the Ministry of Justice (April 2025–March 2026), including online resources like Advicenow.We have not made a specific assessment of the delays in cases involving litigants in person. However, published statistics show that cases where both parties, or the respondent only, had legal representation generally took longer to conclude than those where only the applicant was represented or both parties were unrepresented.We recognise the impact delays have on families and are taking action to improve outcomes. In private law proceedings relating to children, Pathfinder courts are reducing case durations, delivering some of the fastest times nationally and providing better support for vulnerable parties, including domestic abuse survivors.This Government has not made an assessment of judicial outcomes. The Judiciary are constitutionally independent from the Government. Commenting on or evaluating judicial decisions would risk undermining this independence.

How many family court cases the mother acted as a litigant in person due to lack of access to (a) legal aid and (b) representation in each of the last five years.

It is not possible to identify from the data whether the mother or father was represented during proceedings. However, representation can be broken down by applicant and respondent, and this information is published in the Family Court Statistics Quarterly collection. The latest publication is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly Reasons why parties may not have been represented are not held centrally.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.

In the last financial year, the Office spent no money on LinkedIn membership fees and £3,332.48 on other subscriptions.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.

The requested information is not centrally collated by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. All spending is subject to standard value for money assessments.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.

The Scotland Office and its associated arm’s length bodies have spent £0 on LinkedIn membership fees and £797 on other subscriptions in the last financial year.

For the total spend on (a) LinkedIn membership fees and (b) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.

The department has no spend on LinkedIn membership fees, and has a total spend in 2024/25 of £4,322.00 on other subscriptions.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.

In line with other large employers, The Cabinet Office utilises LinkedIn subscriptions for business purposes including recruitment across government and managing the wider Civil Service talent pipeline. It is not possible to provide a definitive figure for subscriptions for the last financial year (and to do so would incur disproportionate costs.) Heads of Business Units review all subscriptions and other internal expenditure to ensure value for tax payer money.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.

We are unable to provide details on the total spend on LinkedIn membership fees and other subscriptions by the Department for Business and Trade in the last financial year. The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.

In financial year 2024/25, HM Treasury spent £16,103.50 on a LinkedIn contract as part of the department’s advertisements of external job vacancies. There was no other HM Treasury spend on other LinkedIn fees or subscriptions.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.

Due to the way this information is stored in our systems, it would be difficult and incur disproportionate costs to extract subscriptions to LinkedIn and other social media platforms.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.

This information is not held centrally for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.

This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.

The total expenditure by the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) on (i) LinkedIn membership fees and (ii) other subscriptions for the financial year 2024/2025 was as follows: CategoryTotal Expenditure (£)(i) LinkedIn membership fees£0.00 (Nil Return)(ii) Other subscriptions (Media)£5,939.52