MoJ data suggests “slight decrease” in volume of deprivation of liberty applications for children

The Ministry of Justice has reported that 289 children were subject to applications to deprive them of their liberty between October and December 2023 in England and Wales.

Most of the children were teenagers; 57% aged between 13 and 15 and 31% aged between 16 and 18 years.

This compares to 340 applications (including 38 ‘repeat’ applications relating to the same child) over the same period the previous year, according to data collected by the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (NFJO).

The NFJO said: “This suggests a slight decrease in the volume of applications, but overall the number of children subject to Deprivation of Liberty (DoL) applications remains similar.”

The MoJ Quarterly Family Court Statistics, published last week (28 March), meanwhile revealed an increase in adoption applications, but a decrease in adoption orders.

In October to December 2023 there were 1,115 adoption applications, up 15% on the equivalent quarter in 2022. However, the number of adoption orders issued decreased by 2% to 1,050.

The data revealed an increase in deprivation of liberty applications and orders made under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005.

There were 1,569 applications under the MCA 2005 relating to deprivation of liberty in October to December 2023, up 5% on the equivalent quarter in 2022.

Orders increased by 70% in the latest quarter compared to the same period last year. The MoJ attributed this to “efforts being made by the courts to increase the number of orders made and clear backlogs”.

The MoJ said: “Since the Supreme Court clarified the definition of deprivation of liberty in 2014, there has been a significant increase in the number of applications. There were 15 applications in January to March 2013 which increased to a high of 1,744 in July to September 2020.”

Lottie Winson