The Department for Education (DfE) commissioned Verian, Alma Economics and the National Children’s Bureau to evaluate three pilots designed to reduce unnecessary delays in family court proceedings. These included locally tailored reforms to address the root causes of delay in family courts, structured pre-hearing meetings between local authorities and Cafcass to strengthen case preparation, and a multidisciplinary NHS service providing coordinated assessments in suspected inflicted head injury cases. 

Alma Economics led the economic evaluation across all three pilots. Working alongside the wider evaluation consortium, we developed value-for-money frameworks in line with HM Treasury Green Book guidance and assessed the economic case for each intervention. 

Our team designed and implemented a combination of cost-benefit and break-even analysis models, drawing on administrative data, pilot monitoring data, stakeholder evidence and findings from the wider literature. The approach was tailored to each pilot depending on the strength of the available impact evidence. Where robust quantitative impact estimates were available, we conducted cost-benefit analysis; where quantitative evidence was limited or inconclusive, we used break-even analysis to estimate the impact level required for benefits to offset implementation costs. 

The project provided DfE with robust evidence on the costs, potential benefits and scalability of different approaches to reducing court delays, helping to inform future policy and delivery decisions across the family justice system.

➥ The reports can be found here.