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Sandra Davis' Week: The cost of reform

Date:7 APR 2011

Sandra DavisDavid Norgrove's interim report on the family justice system makes for sombre reading.

It is I agree "shocking" that cases involving children take too long to resolve. Moreover the authors of the report rightly predict that current levels of delay in the system are only set to rise.

No one who is involved in the family justice system can seriously argue against the suggestion that reform is necessary. There is likely to be broad consensus that most of the 82 recommendations contained in the report are entirely sensible.

Careful reading of the report however shocks in more ways than one. Page 184 of the report contains the stark acknowledgement that "unit costs in the current system are largely a mystery".

The problem this presents for reformers is that without knowing what the current system costs it is impossible to assess the future cost arising from the reforms being proposed...

Read the full article here.