Cafcass have released new statistics for the month of March revealing an all-time high for new private law cases. The total of these cases received in March 2016 was 3,278 which is a 4% increase on the previous year.

Private law cases are mainly applications made following a divorce or separation to decide child arrangements such as where they will live or with which parent they will spend time with.

The period between April 2014 and March 2015 saw a decrease in 27% for new private law cases however, this trend did not continue for the following financial year as between April 2015 and March 2016 there was an increase of 9%, totalling 37,354.

Cafcass have also reported on the number of care applications which local authorities will make if they believe that a child is being neglected or abused. March 2016 saw a 14% increase of care cases compared to the previous year, with a total of 1221 care applications.

Unlike new private law cases, the trend for care applications has been on the rise since 2014 with the period between April 2014 and March 2015 seeing a 5% rise is new care applications with a total of 11,159 applications for the financial year.