On 2 December 2024 the President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, published the Family Court Annual Report. This is the first time such a report had been produced and comes alongside the full-force drive towards increased transparency in the Family Court. The report covers the period October 2023 to September 2024 and marks 10 years since the creation of the Family Court in England and Wales.

Knowledge development lawyer Carla Ditz takes a look at some of the key data and developments discussed in the report.

Private law and supporting earlier resolution

The report provides some sobering statistics in relation to the average case duration for private law proceedings. In 2018, the mean duration was 25.1 weeks; this has risen to 43.3 weeks in 2024.

As set out in the report, the volume of private law children cases demonstrates that much of the time of the Family Court is taken up by disputes between parents over the arrangements for their children. Much therefore needs to be done to dissuade parents from turning to the court unless absolutely necessary.

The report highlights that over the past year we have seen:

• Changes to the Family Procedure Rules 2010 to place dispute resolution at the heart of court proceedings, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. This includes greater emphasis of the Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting requirement as well as meaningful engagement with non-court dispute resolution.
• Establishment of pre-action protocols setting out what is expected of litigants and legal representatives before making an application to the court.
• Parties to a child arrangements application are sent a letter from the President of the Family Division outlining options for reaching agreements away from the court where is it safe and appropriate to do so.
• Addressing the information deficit in relation to the range of dispute resolution options and support available to parties, including work on a new online tool as a source of reliable and accessible information.

Pathfinder courts pilot

The Pathfinder pilot launched in the family courts in North Wales and Dorset in March 2022. The focus of the Pathfinder courts is to improve the court experience and outcomes for survivors of domestic abuse. To achieve this, a more holistic and multi-agency approach is adopted  which ultimately addresses the need for the court to hear the voice of the child more clearly from the start of proceedings. At the heart of the pilot is the adoption of a more investigative and problem-solving approach including greater engagement with the parties, and fewer hearings as a result.

The pilot was extended to Cardiff and Birmingham in April and May 2024. Evidence  suggests that the pilot has been a success, with children in particular feeling the positive effects of early engagement. This goes hand in hand with the overall measures intended to support earlier resolution for separating parents to reach agreements in private law matters.

Transparency and the reporting pilot

The roll-out of the reporting pilot for children and financial remedy hearings over the past 24 months has arguably been one of the most notable developments in the Family Court’s history. The pilot follows the President’s October 2021 report, “Confidence and Confidentiality: Transparency in the Family Court”, which concluded that the time had come for accredited media representatives and legal bloggers to be able to report on what they see and hear in Family Court hearings. This is subject to strict rules on anonymity of children and their family members. A Transparency Order will be made in proceedings where a reporter attends, clearly setting out what can and cannot be reported, as well as what court documents the reporter may see.

The children proceedings pilot now operates in 19 family court areas including magistrates courts, having initially been piloted in January 2023 in Leeds, Cardiff and Carlisle. Following a successful launch of the financial remedy reporting pilot in January 2024, the pilot is due to be extended across all courts in January 2025 for financial proceedings, subject to the pilot’s results.

Conclusions

As well as these notable initiatives, other important developments in the Family Court include targeted training for judges on domestic abuse, and Independent Domestic Violence Advisers being able to attend court hearings where a party wishes that they do so.

Senior associate Rosie Stewart comments: “Against the backdrop of an overburdened court system, the Family Court Annual Report allows us to reflect on the positive developments of the past year. As well as greater resourcing, importing a culture of change is important if meaningful progress is to be achieved and maintained. Undeniably, there is much more that can be done to reform the Family Court in England and Wales for the benefit of adults and children, but it is positive news that the wheels are very much in motion.”

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