Family court backlogs reduced by half as pilot expanded across England and Wales

New data released today (Monday 3rd February) shows ‘Pathfinder’ courts resolve cases quicker – with some shown to reduce Family Court backlogs by half.

The Government is now promising £12.5 million to expand the pilot to 8,000 families in Wales and West Yorkshire, tackling backlogs and shielding children from further trauma.

The Pathfinder pilot works by bringing together local authorities, police and support services to gather and share information on cases as early as possible. The Government says this saves children and families from having to go through unnecessary and potentially hostile hearings.

In 2020 The Harm Panel, comprised of experts on the family justice system, was convened to draw together evidence and published a report on private law children cases. It recommended reform to the Child Arrangements Programme (CAP), which is the process that the family court follows when settling disputes between separating parties involving children. The Pathfinder pilot was designed in response to this recommendation to achieve the reform of private law by trialling a more investigative approach which better supports victims of domestic abuse and other harms.

The pilot launched in Dorset and North Wales in February 2022, expanding to South East Wales in April 2024, and Birmingham in May 2024. The programme is now set to launch in Mid and West Wales on 3rd March, and in West Yorkshire on 3rd June.

New figures published today show the approach is working, with cases being resolved 11 weeks quicker, and the backlog of cases reducing by 50 per cent across both Dorset and North Wales.

Under the pilot, the average case length has reduced by from 29 weeks to 18 weeks in North Wales, and 38 weeks to 27 weeks in Dorset. This has meant that the number of open cases has halved since the pilot started, from 478 to 202 in North Wales, and 511 to 246 in Dorset.

“For too long families have been pitted against each other in the court room, or abusers have hijacked proceedings to continue campaigns of cruelty,” Lord Ponsonby, the Minister for Family Justice, said. “Children and vulnerable people bear the brunt of this, and it must stop.”

“Pathfinder has been welcomed as a less adversarial approach, and early evidence shows it’s working. This is another important step to achieving our promise of halving violence against women and girls,” Lord Ponsonby added.

A primary focus of the courts is improving information sharing between agencies to allow for more informed decision making, fewer bureaucratic hearings, less time in court and quicker resolution to cases. The courts can also offer specialist support to victims of domestic abuse through Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs).

The Government also announced that the family mediation vouchers scheme will also be extended to March 2026.

The programme, which provides £500 to help couples settle issues before they get to court, has provided helped over 37,700 families to date, with early analysis showing 70 per cent of recipients reach a whole or partial agreement thanks to mediation.

Since the voucher scheme was introduced in April 2021, the number of applications being made to court has dropped - avoiding thousands of these cases a year, which could save taxpayers millions of pounds, with just under 5,000 fewer private law applications in 2023 than in 2020.

Domestic Abuse Commissioner Nicole Jacobs said it is clear that Pathfinder Courts recognize the impact of domestic abuse and consider children’s needs much earlier than in the traditional Family Court.

“I believe this approach is essential to ensuring the protection of victims in the family justice system. I welcome Government’s commitment to this pilot and look forward to seeing its influence on all Family Courts,” she said.