Government
Three Government Spending Files Haven't Been Updated Since August 2013
Departments must publish every payment over £25,000. Of the 16 spending datasets listed on data.gov.uk, 11 are behind schedule, and the oldest three have sat untouched since August 2013. The same departments keeping some files current are letting others gather dust.
The Family Court Figure That Rose 10,960% Without a Year Passing
Family courts in England and Wales made 553 parental responsibility orders in 2023, according to Ministry of Justice tables. The comparison figure sitting next to it is 5, and it is also labelled 2023. One of those numbers is doing something very odd.
One Family Court Table, Two Numbers for 2023: 31,876 and 26
The Ministry of Justice's family court tables record 31,876 contact orders in 2023. The same file also carries a figure of 26 for 2023. One of those numbers is the story; the other is a warning about how published data gets read.
Who Picks the School? In 2023 a Judge Answered That 12,032 Times
Family courts in England and Wales made 12,032 Section 8 specific issue orders in 2023, the latest complete year in the Ministry of Justice tables. That is roughly 33 a day, and the official percentage change published alongside it makes no sense at all.
Family Courts Made 12,774 Prohibited Steps Orders in 2023. Or Maybe 5.
The Ministry of Justice's family court tables contain two figures for prohibited steps in 2023: one of 12,774 and one of 5. Only one of them describes what actually happens in England and Wales, and the gap between them is a lesson in reading official data properly.
Twenty-One Times a Week, a Court Hands a Child to a Relative
Special guardianship orders are the quietest part of the care system: no adoption, no headlines, often a grandparent in their sixties starting again. The latest Ministry of Justice figures show 1,091 of them in a single year, and a published comparison that makes no sense at all.
The 10,960% Surge That Never Actually Happened
A Ministry of Justice family court table records 553 parental responsibility entries in 2023 and, in the same year, just 5. Run those through a spreadsheet and you get an eye-watering 10,960% jump. It's a number that means nothing, and that's exactly why it matters.
The Spending Files Nobody Has Touched Since August 2013
Departments must publish everything they spend over £25,000. Eleven of sixteen spending datasets on data.gov.uk are behind, and the worst of them were last updated in the summer of 2013.