I had a most enjoyable and informative return to the Birmingham Civil and Family Justice Centre at the Priory Courts in Birmingham to learn more about the Pathfinder initiative.
This pilot project has been running for around 18 months to try and improve the processes which underpin the consideration of civil cases involving children in the Family Court. By putting the needs of the child at the centre of the case and front end loading preparation and distribution of paperwork, backed up by regular communication with all parties, the Pathfinder team have driven a 95% reduction in the backlog of cases.
The team have rightly received a number of awards for their work and the pilot is now being rolled out to other Counties and consideration is being given as to how it might be applied in other areas of law.
