A problem-solving family court scheme championed by the president of the family division and praised by the lady chief justice will be rolled out nationally – under a new name.
Lord chancellor David Lammy today announced £17m to install more ‘pathfinder’ courts across England and Wales, now under the name ‘child focused courts’.
The court formerly known as pathfinder was first piloted in North Wales and Dorset in 2022, with cases being resolved nearly three months more quickly than under the previous regime.
The problem-solving child-led model currently operates in 10 out of 43 court areas, including Wales, Birmingham, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and West Yorkshire. The £17m announced today will support the model's introduction in Northumbria, North Durham, Cleveland and South Durham, Lancashire, Cumbria, York and North Yorkshire, Cheshire and Merseyside, Northamptonshire, and Coventry and Warwickshire.
The Ministry of Justice said the scheme will expand to the remaining court areas ‘over the upcoming financial years’. The department told the Gazette it aims to complete the rollout by 2029.
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Family Division president Sir Andrew McFarlane has long championed the Pathfinder model. In his July 2024 A View from the President’s Chambers, he said Pathfinder ‘has turned out to be more radical, and far more successful, than even its most ardent supporters would have anticipated’.
The lady chief justice praised the model when she appeared before the House of Commons justice select committee in 2024.
Lammy said today: ‘Court backlogs are not just numbers on a page. When it comes to the family courts, they represent victims waiting, families in limbo and children and domestic abuse victims left to linger in harm’s way. That is why the national rollout of the child focused courts matters so much. It will protect, support and hear the voices of children, helping family courts make safe and fair decisions without delay.
‘It also shows that, through innovative reforms, we can make our courts work better, tackle delays and bring down the backlog so more victims and families get the swift justice they deserve.’
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