The family Court in Bradford has been accused of “shocking delays” in care cases that cause misery to parents and children.

New figures released by the Government show it takes 13 months to reach decisions on the custody of youngsters following relationship breakdown, or in cases where youngsters may be removed to protect them from abuse or neglect in the Bradford and Kirklees Local Justice Area (LJA).

The average delay – of 55 weeks – is higher than other parts of West Yorkshire. Kirklees LJA takes 42 weeks on average, Leeds 54 weeks and Calderdale just 28 weeks.

It is also almost twice the deadline of 26 weeks recommended in a review of the family courts carried out last year for the Government. The study, by former senior civil servant David Norgrove, condemned the system as slow and incoherent and described some waits as “shocking”.

The call for a 26-week limit in care cases was immediately accepted by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), after his report warned that lengthy proceedings were damaging some children’s “chance of a permanent home”.

Now, the Government has published for the first time, court statistics that show the average duration of civil and family cases at every County Court, and the duration of criminal cases at every Crown Court and local magistrates' court group.