Designated Family Judge Trailblazer

The family justice (FJ) system is one of the most complex and cross-system policy areas in Children’s Services. DfE holds responsibility for public law, covering all vulnerable children in England who require local authority (LA) intervention. Unacceptable delays in the family courts have been a long-standing issue for over 10 years. We want to create sustainable cross-system changes that bring down family court delays. We want to build on the work of our 24/25 Trailblazer pilot. This pilot involved five DFJ trailblazer areas with significant delays taking part in deep dives to determine the most pressing drivers of delay in Family Courts in their local context and implement tailored solutions.

Expected services will include:

Roll out Guided Learning

• Expand Guided Learning: Offer the Guided Learning (GL) process to the remaining 23 DFJ areas and enhance the offer for the first 15 areas.
• Enhanced Offer: Prescribe solutions based on Trailblazers' existing solutions for all 38 areas.
• Toolkit Development: Provide a toolkit for local solution development, supported by Trailblazer insights.

Support ongoing learning for DFJ areas, the DfE, and the wider sector

• Expand PLGs: Broaden Communities of Practice for all DFJ areas to build networks for improvement.
• Pilot Evaluation: Continue supporting the evaluation of the pilot programme.
• Disseminate Learning: Share ongoing learning through events, webinars, podcasts, newsletters, etc.

Develop and embed learning from Trailblazers

• Collate Insights: Analyse learning from the Trailblazers pilot, highlighting impactful initiatives and lessons learned.
• Build Evidence Base: Expand the Guided Learning evidence base with additional DFJ areas.
• Early Adopters' Toolkit: Develop a toolkit for implementing Trailblazer solutions.

Further develop system accountability work

1. Engage Stakeholders: Work with key stakeholders to understand challenges and solutions.
2. Address NAO Recommendations: Review and implement relevant recommendations from the National Audit Office.
3. Develop Family Justice Strategy: Conduct research and gather data to inform policy and practice.
4. Practical Recommendations: Develop actionable recommendations and policy proposals to drive improvement.

The purpose of this Notice is to initiate market consultation and is not being used as a call for competition. The Notice is intended to:

Raise awareness with the market of a potential future procurement process and to enable time for organisations to begin early discussions with the Department and each other as to how they may be able to deliver any future contract.

The family justice (FJ) system is one of the most complex and cross-system policy areas in Children’s Services. DfE holds responsibility for public law, covering all vulnerable children in England who require local authority (LA) intervention. Unacceptable delays in the family courts have been a long-standing issue for over 10 years. We want to create sustainable cross-system changes that bring down family court delays. We want to build on the work of our 24/25 Trailblazer pilot. This pilot involved five DFJ trailblazer areas with significant delays taking part in deep dives to determine the most pressing drivers of delay in Family Courts in their local context and implement tailored solutions.

Expected services will include:

Roll out Guided Learning

• Expand Guided Learning: Offer the Guided Learning (GL) process to the remaining 23 DFJ areas and enhance the offer for the first 15 areas.
• Enhanced Offer: Prescribe solutions based on Trailblazers' existing solutions for all 38 areas.
• Toolkit Development: Provide a toolkit for local solution development, supported by Trailblazer insights.

Support ongoing learning for DFJ areas, the DfE, and the wider sector

• Expand PLGs: Broaden Communities of Practice for all DFJ areas to build networks for improvement.
• Pilot Evaluation: Continue supporting the evaluation of the pilot programme.
• Disseminate Learning: Share ongoing learning through events, webinars, podcasts, newsletters, etc.

Develop and embed learning from Trailblazers

• Collate Insights: Analyse learning from the Trailblazers pilot, highlighting impactful initiatives and lessons learned.
• Build Evidence Base: Expand the Guided Learning evidence base with additional DFJ areas.
• Early Adopters' Toolkit: Develop a toolkit for implementing Trailblazer solutions.

Further develop system accountability work

1. Engage Stakeholders: Work with key stakeholders to understand challenges and solutions.
2. Address NAO Recommendations: Review and implement relevant recommendations from the National Audit Office.
3. Develop Family Justice Strategy: Conduct research and gather data to inform policy and practice.
4. Practical Recommendations: Develop actionable recommendations and policy proposals to drive improvement.