You asked
I am looking to obtain the following information under the Freedom of Information Act.
Number of divorces in the UK with infidelities/extra-marital affairs uncovered via social media or texting, cited as the cause
Yearly figures required for between 2010 and 2014
If this request can be fulfilled, please can you email the information to me.
We said
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing demographic statistics on divorces taking place in England and Wales. ONS divorce statistics are compiled from the forms used to record decree absolutes and decrees of nullity. These forms represent the legal record of a divorce taking place, hence the statistics are compiled using a complete administrative dataset. Divorces taking place in Scotland and Northern Ireland are recorded by the courts in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) quality assure and produce regular statistics for their own countries. ONS quality assures divorce statistics for England and Wales and also coordinates and publishes statistics for the whole of the UK with breakdowns for each constituent country.
Divorce statistics are published by grounds for all constituent countries. One of these grounds is adultery, however, no further information is available on how infidelities/extra-marital affairs were uncovered.
Divorce statistics by grounds can be found at the following locations:
England and Wales (latest figures)
Other special extracts and tabulations of divorce data for England and Wales are available (subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreement of costs, where appropriate). You do not need to make a Freedom of Information request and can contact the team directly at: vsob@ons.gov.uk