The last two weeks have seen two key announcements promoting the voice of children in helping resolve issues between separating parents.
On 17th march 2026 the UK government has announced the national expansion of Child Focused Courts, a pioneering approach designed to ensure children’s views are at the heart of family law proceedings. This initiative builds on a successful pilot, aiming to provide children with swifter, more considered justice and to make their experiences and opinions a central part of the Court process (read the announcement).
Meanwhile, the Family Solutions Group published its report on Putting Children First, emphasising the importance of child-centred practices for families seeking to resolve disputes outside the Court system. The report provides guidance and best practice examples, helping parents and professionals focus on children’s needs while reducing conflict, stress, and delay in family decision-making (view the report).
Child Focused Courts to Be Expanded Across England and Wales
On Tuesday 17 March 2026, the Deputy Prime Minister confirmed that Child Focused Courts, previously known as Pathfinder Courts, will be expanded across England and Wales.
Introduced in March 2025, the Pathfinder Pilot was launched in selected areas to transform the way children disputes between separating parents are managed. Over the past year, the initiative in Dorset and Wales has received strong support and enthusiasm from judges, court staff, social workers and other professionals dedicated to improving outcomes for families.
This month’s announcement represents a major step forward. It confirms a new name, Child Focused Courts, and approval for the national expansion of the model. The system places children firmly at the centre of family proceedings and has already achieved success in resolving cases more efficiently. It forms part of the government’s commitment to protecting children and ensuring fair and timely access to justice.
Research by the UK Youth Parliament found that 74 percent of young people did not know where to turn for help when their parents separated. This highlights the urgent need for reform. With around four million children growing up in separated families in the UK, Child Focused Courts aim to bridge the gap between legal professionals and vulnerable families, making sure that children’s voices are properly heard.
Putting Children First: The Evolving Role of the Family Law Professional
This announcement follows closely after the Family Solutions Group’s recent report, Putting Children First: The Evolving Role of the Family Law Professional. The report calls for the creation of a new Commissioner for Separated Families and promotes a more child centred and solutions-based approach, in particular finding ways to resolve this out of Court. Family separation is often considered a fragmented area of public policy, which is desperately short of funding, and the proposed commissioner would provide vital national accountability. The role would include mapping services, identifying gaps and improving consistency in early help, mediation and co-parenting support.
The Domestic Abuse Commissioner role, created in 2025, has already shown how effective such a model can be. That role helped unify a previously fragmented system by coordinating services, raising awareness and promoting best practice. A Commissioner for Separated Families could achieve similar results, ensuring that children’s experiences remain at the core of family law practice, including the development of protocols for child inclusive mediation before proceedings begin.
পিতামাতার দায়িত্ব কী?
Parental Responsibility (PR) is the power given to individuals to make important decisions in relation to the children they hold PR for. These decisions include welfare issues, medical treatment, education of the child, changing of the child’s name, taking the child outside the jurisdiction. Find out more…
Putting Hearing Children’s Voices Into Practice
গুডম্যান রে is pleased to see the increased focus on hearing children’s voices for separating families as well as in court proceedings, a principle that the firm strongly supports. We have child inclusive mediators in Trudi Featherstone and Thomas Brownrigg, who work with children and families in mediation seeking to avoid Court, a process endorsed in the Family Solutions Group report. We also have a number of members of the children panel and solicitors who regularly represent children in proceedings, whether through their Guardian or separate representation. It is at the heart of what we do, and we are encouraged and pleased to see such focus on the children’s voice in the family law process.
The benefits of child-inclusive mediation, a process designed to allow children to confidentially express their views and concerns directly to a trained, neutral mediator during parental separation. While voluntary, this form of mediation helps ensure children are given the opportunity to be heard outside the court process as it is used to assist the parents make decisions and is not shared with the Court. It creates a space for children’s voices to be heard in a constructive way for families looking to avoid Court.
We recognise that it is not always possible for families to avoid Court, and in cases where children need representation, they deserve that to be of the highest calibre. As a firm with experience of all facets of family law, with specialist teams for domestic abuse as well as families in care proceedings and international children cases, we regularly deal with the most complex issues and progressive children cases.
In addition to child-inclusive mediation, গুডম্যান রে has solicitors who are members of the Law Society’s Children Panel in our children’s panel who represent guardians, as well as solicitors who provide direct representation for children in legal proceedings. They have a wealth of experience in complex private and public law cases, as well as those with an international element are well placed to help ensure children’s voices are heard.
Ensuring a child’s voice is heard is a central pillar of the Children Act and enshrined in the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. We welcome this shift towards greater emphasis on children’s voices and are proud to be involved in efforts to ensure their views are considered in matters that affect them.
Children Legal Advice – How We Can Help
এট গুডম্যান রে, our specialist family law solicitors support parents and families who are going through separation and divorce. We provide clear, practical advice on separation, child arrangements, parental responsibility and decision-making, always with a strong focus on children’s welfare.
আপনি আপনার বিকল্পগুলো বিবেচনা করছেন, বিদ্যমান ব্যবস্থা পর্যালোচনা করছেন বা পরিস্থিতি তীব্র হওয়ার আগেই প্রাথমিক পরামর্শ নিতে চাইছেন—যে কোনো ক্ষেত্রেই আমাদের দল আপনাকে আপনার আইনি অবস্থান বুঝতে এবং চিন্তাশীল, তথ্যভিত্তিক পরবর্তী পদক্ষেপ নিতে সহায়তা করতে প্রস্তুত।.
Please contact our team to discuss your circumstances and receive tailored legal advice. You can get in touch with us by completing our online অনুসন্ধান ফর্ম on our website or contact us via telephone on 020 7608 1227.
আজই আমাদের সাথে যোগাযোগ করুন
যদি আপনার কোনো প্রশ্ন থাকে বা উপরোক্ত কোনো বিষয়ে আইনি পরামর্শ নিতে চান, তবে অনুগ্রহ করে আমাদের সাথে যোগাযোগ করুন।.
আমাদের কল করুন 020 7608 1227
