Amongst Hampshire and other areas of England and Wales, there has been a new scheme called the ‘Private Law Pathfinder’ which is designed to give a new holistic view of the family court and the way matters are conducted. Its mandate is to create a context in which risk is assessed earlier and is better understood.
The pilot was designed after the MoJ published a report in June 2020 titled ‘Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases’ (the ‘Harm Panel Report’)’. In response to the report, the Government committed to Pathfinder (Practice Direction 36Z of the Family Procedure Rules) as a less adversarial and more problem-solving approach to provide additional support to those that need it.
You can read Ben’s full article, here: https://www.familylawweek.co.uk/articles/the-blitz-court-fit-for-purpose/