Senedd backs calls for the creation of family drug and alcohol courts in Wales

Ella Groves, ICNN Senedd Reporter

A Senedd Member who experienced the care system as a child has spoken in favour of creating family drug and alcohol courts in Wales.

On Wednesday October 7, Plaid Cymru’s Sarah Cooper-Lesadd told members: “When the Senedd talks about children whose parents cannot look after them, I am not talking about a policy area, I’m talking about the thing that decided my life before I could speak.”

She drew attention to a former family drug and alcohol court (FDAC) which served Cardiff and the Vale from December 2021 to November 2023, but closed due to lack of funding.

The FDAC started as a pilot scheme, with Welsh Government funding, and aimed to work with 30 families for an initial two-year period.

Ms Cooper-Lesadd, who recently defected to Plaid from Reform, said: “Researchers at Cardiff University looked at it and found that it worked here, that parents were getting better, that children’s lives were changing. They said that Wales should keep it and build on it.

“The judge who sat in it wrote down his regret in the judgment. He could see what it meant for the families still in front of him. It closed because the money ran out.”

Ms Cooper-Lesadd also advocated for the devolution of justice, noting that it was Wales’ lack of power over the justice system that meant the previous FDACs had to close.

She added: “Wales could pay for a pilot; what Wales could not do was put it on a statutory footing, because that at the moment is not ours to build.

“Wales could fund the team year after year and still never make the court itself a permanent part of the justice system.

“When the money ran out, there was nothing underneath it – it wasn’t on a statutory footing. So, this is what happened – not a decision anyone took, not a judgment that this was wrong for Wales, just a court that existed on borrowed time and stopped existing.”

“Deeply concerned”

Reform UK’s Tom Montgomery told members they should be “deeply concerned” at Wales’ much higher rate of children in care than England.

Mr Montgomery said in 2025 there were 114 children per 10,000 in the care of Welsh local authorities, compared to just 67 children per 10,000 in England.

He said: “These figures are alarming, but they are not just numbers; they’re human beings whose lives can be seriously impacted by their experience.”

The Clwyd MS also highlighted the impact care proceedings can have on parents.

Sharing the experience of a parent who previously had children removed, Mr Montgomery said the standard court process made them feel “powerless”.

In comparison, when describing their experience with the FDAC they said: “It feels like we have the power to actually have our say, get things done, have our side heard, and then they try to work with us to improve things and meet in the middle.”

FDACs are also effective, Mr Montgomery said, noting the evaluation of the family drug and alcohol court in Wales found the number of parents misusing substances decreased from 83% at the start of the process to 54%.

Similarly the number of parents misusing alcohol reduced from 91% to 60%.

Concluding he said: “Let us together create a care system that builds, not breaks families.”

“Best outcomes”

Delyth Jewell, the deputy social care minister, agreed the evidence to support the FDAC model is “strong” but stressed the evaluation of the pilot scheme had also found “many barriers and complications”.

She highlighted the need for the devolution of justice, suggesting it “would create opportunities to plan services around the needs of Wales, rather than just reproducing arrangements that have been developed elsewhere.”

Ms Jewell reminded members that Plaid Cymru’s programme for government puts prevention and early intervention as central to “all policy development processes”.

The deputy minister reassured members the family justice system in Wales will continue to “focus on keeping children safe with their families wherever possible”.

She continued: “Services will work together to prevent needs from escalating and to help families make sustainable changes.

“When families come into contact with the courts, we want a more empathetic experience that focuses on the best outcomes for the child.”

The Senedd agreed the motion with 71 votes for, none against, and 16 abstentions.

---

Get more trusted Welsh news

Choose Nation.Cymru as a preferred source in Google News to see more of our journalism.