The Family Justice Review panel have recommended a package of proposals aimed at improving children’s and families’ experience of the system.

They are now seeking your views on these recommendations as part of a three month public consultation.

The panel’s recommendations in the interim report include:

A simpler system to deliver an improved service

• A new Family Justice Service led by a National Family Justice Board, bringing all the agencies dealing with children and families in the justice system together to reduce delays and offer families greater support.
• Local Family Justice Boards, as part of this new Family Justice Service, to replace the many local arrangements that exist currently.
• A unified family court system, streamlining services to replace the current three-tier system, creating more flexibility for family hearings.
• Specialist judges who hear cases from start to finish to ensure consistency and confidence in the system.
• More investment in systems to manage cases and make the family justice service clearer to the public.
• Court social work services should form part of the Family Justice Service, and take on the role of Cafcass. (Cafcass Cymru would continue as it is in Wales as this is a devolved function).

Public law (protecting children and taking them into care) that delivers more quickly for children

• The welfare of the child should remain paramount in law, as at present. Courts should focus on the core issues that are most important to the welfare of the children.
• A bespoke timetable for resolving each child’s situation having a maximum allowed time limit for all cases to minimise problems arising from delays.
• Less reliance on unnecessary expert reports which can cause delay, when these are not in the best interests of the child.
• Measures to simplify processes and help manage cases better, including support for judges in managing cases.

In private law, a simpler service for families going through breakdown, aimed at helping them to focus on their children and to reach agreement, if possible without going to court.

• To reinforce the importance of the child continuing to have a meaningful relationship with both parents - a statement to be inserted into the law, alongside the need to protect the child from harm.
• Use of Parenting Agreements to bring together arrangements for children’s care after separation, focusing on where the child spends time rather than ‘contact’ and ‘residence’.
• Using these Parenting Agreements to reinforce the importance of other family relationships, for example with grandparents and other relatives and friends who the child values.
• A single online and phone help point to make it simple for people to decide the most appropriate way forward.
• Assessment for mediation followed by access to Separated Parents Information Programmes and dispute resolution to help separating parents understand the impact of conflict on the children and to reach agreement.
• A court process that supports cases where there are serious welfare concerns and allows for cases to be dealt with according to complexity.

A full summary of the panel’s recommendations can be found in the interim report.

During the consultation period the panel will host a number of open discussion events to discuss the proposals with those with an interest in what is being proposed. See details of the events.

The Family Justice Review panel will make its final recommendations this autumn.