Divorce centres: Bury St Edmunds Divorce Centre launch information bulletin

We have reached the anniversary of the very first divorce centres. Those in the North East opened in November 2014.

The Bury St Edmunds Divorce Centre is launching an 'on demand' information bulletin on 16 November. The bulletin will show the work position at the Divorce Centre and provide general information to assist practitioners. This will enable solicitors and others to assess when work sent to the Divorce Centre will be processed and reduce the need to telephone or write for progress updates, saving time and providing information to keep clients informed.

Work information will be updated daily at 12 noon. The other information will be regularly reviewed and updated periodically to ensure that it is up to date and reflects current experience. An example of the information the bulletin will contain is available to download below, the first issue will be broadly similar to this.

The information can be accessed by sending an email to the mailbox burystedmundsinformation@hmcts.gsi.gov.uk. On receipt the bulletin will automatically be sent in response.

Family law solicitor and arbitrator, Tony Roe, who made a series of FoI requests of the MoJ, and whose research broke the news that Bury St Edmunds (BSE) would be the single divorce centre for the London & the South East, has been speaking to HMCTS again.

Roe said, 'HMCTS envisage that this will be very much an evolving tool and future content will be informed by experience and feedback. If there is demand HMCTS may introduce similar facilities elsewhere, I understand.'

Roe also said, 'I happen to know that the Court Service is keeping a watching brief on social media which has apparently informed them where they need to take corrective action. They regard the comments as generally mixed but say that are helpful in providing an overview of practitioner experience.'

The information bulletin is available to download here.