In January 2024, the government announced a reform programme of the family justice system to support families to disputes more quickly and protect children from lengthy Court cases. When parents separate there are lots of decisions to make including where the child will live and how often the child will see the other parent. Not all separated parents come to an agreement which leads to some of them choosing to apply to the Family Court.
For several years the Family Court has struggled with backlogs, delays and issues with judicial capacity. The reform programme is set to help parents reach an agreement either by themselves, with the support of professionals such as mediators or lawyers, or through the Family Court service.
To address these concerns, the government set out measures to ensure families could access information when disputes arose, this includes:
- Developing an online tool for families to access information and support services, as well as providing hardcopy guidance to all families who have submitted a court application.
- Investing around £300m to enable 75 Local Authorities to create Family Hubs that can help families access a range of support services, including information for separating parents.
- Continuing to support Local Authorities in their family services provision through the DWP’s ‘reducing parental conflict’ programme.
- Improving the Child Maintenance System, including removal of the £20 application fee.
- Launching a free family law legal advice pilot in specific regions of England and Wales by summer 2024.
- Working with CAFCASS to help more families undertake in-court parenting programmes earlier in the court process, as well as making pre-court parenting programmes the norm.
- Investing up to £23.6m in the Mediation Voucher Scheme by March 2025.
- Working with the Family Mediation Council and domestic abuse organisations to improve training for mediators.
- Supporting more mediators to offer child-inclusive mediation.
If you are having difficulties with agreeing arrangements, please do not hesitate to contact us and speak to a member of our private family team to discuss how we may be able to assist you.
