Allocation guidance relating to children in the Family Court
The President of the Family Division has issued Guidance on Allocation and Gatekeeping in respect of Proceedings relating to Children in the Family Court, in accordance with rule 21 of the Family Court (Composition and Distribution of Business) Rules 2014.
This guidance applies to all proceedings relating to children issued in the Family Court on and after Tuesday 5 May 2026, including proceedings issued pursuant to the Children Act 1989, the Family Law Act 1986, the Family Law Act 1996 & the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008.
It replaces the President’s Guidance on Allocation and Gatekeeping for Care, Supervision and Other Proceedings under Part IV of the Children Act 1989 (Public Law) (2014) and the President’s Guidance for Proceedings under Part II of the Children Act 1989 (Private Law) (2014).
This new guidance combines allocation and gatekeeping for public and private law cases into one document. For the first time provision is specifically made for the allocation of cases to family magistrates. The tabular schedules have been replaced by lists of case types for each tier of judiciary (magistrates, district judges and circuit judges) in the Public Law Schedule and in the Private Law Schedule.
The essential aims of the Guidance are threefold:
- to ensure that public and private law cases are allocated to and heard by the appropriate level of judiciary;
- to ensure that the family justice system makes the most effective and efficient use of all available judicial resources; and
- to assist gatekeeping teams to make the appropriate and proportionate allocation decisions as efficiently as possible.
The revised guidance is below.