Overview

• Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee reports over 4,000 children were in cases open longer than 100 weeks by December 2024, with the 26‑week public law target never met and average case length at 36 weeks last year.
• The committee instructs MoJ, DfE, HMCTS, Cafcass and local authorities to produce a six‑month joined‑up data and evidence strategy and a three‑month timetable to improve timeliness, with an accountability update due by December 2025.
• Shortages of district judges and social workers are identified as major drivers of delay, compounded by inefficiencies such as at least one cancelled hearing in roughly a third of public law cases.
• MPs cite serious data gaps that prevent tracking a child end‑to‑end through the system and note a proposed single child identifier in the Wellbeing and Schools Bill as a possible solution.
• The inquiry seeks clarity on the June 2025 pledge of £2bn for children’s social care, as the government points to modest post‑pandemic gains rather than committing to urgent reform.