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What is the Pathfinder Pilot Scheme?

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The aim of the Pathfinder pilot is to bring together local authorities, police and other support services to gather and share information on a private law (applications brought about by parents) children case at the earliest opportunity. The pilot was first launched in March 2022 in some family courts in Dorset and North Wales and expanded to Birmingham and South-East Wales in 2024. It has been announced that the scheme will launch in all family courts in Wales on 3rd March 2025 and West Yorkshire will be the new trial area, commencing on 3rd June 2025.

This move follows a review into the family justice system in 2020, which determined that the adversarial processes often made conflict between parents worse and retraumatising victims of abuse and children.

The scheme involves Cafcass (the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service), who are the independent professional body involved in the family court process, carrying out more detailed initial investigations. This includes Cafcass speaking to both parents and the child(ren), where appropriate, who are able to express their wishes/feelings. This means that come the first hearing, there is a lot more information available to the Court which will enable the Judge or magistrates to move a case along proactively and make decisions.

The latest figures, published 3rd February 2025, show cases are being resolved 11 weeks quicker and the backlog of cases has reduced by 50% across Dorset and North Wales.

How is this scheme different?

The Pathfinder process allows cases to progress a lot quicker. The way the system works currently, pre-Pathfinder, means parents can wait weeks or months to have their first dealings with Cafcass/Cafcass Cymru, or the court. Typically, cases would take six months or longer to resolve and there would be multiple court hearings.

Compared with those under the Pathfinder Pilot, after the application is issued at court, a judge or legal advisor will read the application within one or two days and make case management decisions.

Lord Ponsonby, the Minister for Family Justice reports that “Pathfinder has been welcomed as a less adversarial approach, and early evidence shows it’s working”. The Ministry of Justice has boosted the scheme with funding of £12.5 million.

Whilst the Pathfinder scheme has not yet been rolled out to the East Midlands, if you require any advice regarding arrangements for children, please get in touch with the Family Team today and we would be more than happy to discuss your requirements further. Please call us at our office in Leicester on 0116 255 4855 or our office in Loughborough on 01509 610 312 and ask to speak to a member of the Family Team. Alternatively, you may prefer to email us at legal@johnsonastills.com or fill in our enquiry form.

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