This Practice Note sets out the President of the Family Division’s guidance on allocation and gatekeeping in respect of proceedings relating to children in the Family Court published on 31 March 2026 after a period of consultation and following work by the Family Magistrates Working Group, established in February 2024, to review allocation procedures. The guidance applies to all proceedings relating to children issued in the Family Court on and after 5 May 2026 and was issued by the President in accordance with the Family Court (Composition and Distribution of Business) Rules 2014, SI 2014/840 which set out a framework for how the Family Court is composed and on what basis applications for family proceedings are allocated to different levels of judge. The guidance considers the application of FC(CDB)R 2014, SI 2014/840, Pt 5 (Distribution of business of the Family Court). The guidance replaces the previous two sets of 2014 guidance from the President on allocation and gatekeeping for care, supervision and other proceedings under Part IV of the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989) (Public Law) and

This Practice Note explains the considerations and procedure relevant to the allocation of financial remedy proceedings. It considers the geographical location of proceedings, the criteria used on allocation to district judge, circuit judge and High Court judge level respectively and the difference between allocation at High Court judge level and transfer to the High Court. It also examines allocation issues relating to freezing and search orders, applications for financial relief after overseas divorce, applications for reallocation and applications in existing and concluded cases. Other than in a handful of exceptional situations, financial remedy proceedings will be issued, case managed and tried in the Family Court. The Financial Remedies Court is a subsidiary structure within the Family Court. See Practice Note: The Financial Remedies Court for information on the structure of the Financial Remedies Court. ‘Financial remedy’ is defined in the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955, 2.3 and includes applications for a financial order in matrimonial or civil partnership proceedings, applications under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989 and applications for financial

The allocation of social housing by local housing authorities (LHAs) in England and Wales is regulated by Pt VI of the Housing Act 1996 (HA 1996). HA 1996 consolidated all previous legislation governing social housing supply and has in turn been significantly amended under the Homelessness Act 2002 (HA 2002), the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008, the Localism Act 2011 (LA 2011), and the Housing (Wales) Act 2014. It has also been amended by various statutory instruments, namely: the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 (Consequential Provisions) Order 2010, SI 2010/866, the Housing Act 1996 (Additional Preference for Armed Forces) (England) Regulations 2012, SI 2012/2989, the Universal Credit (Consequential, Supplementary, Incidental and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2013, SI 2013/630, and the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (Consequential Amendments) (Wales) Order 2015, SI 2015/1321. HA 1996, Pt VI (allocation) and HA 1996, Pt VII (homelessness) act as parallel and complementary schemes for the provision of two different forms of social housing assistance. HA 1996, Pt VI principally concerns the supply of introductory

This Practice Note considers the allocation of jurisdiction within the UK under the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 (CJJA 1982). It considers the scope of that regime and the conditions which need to be met for the regime to apply, and considers the interaction with Regulation 1215/2012, Brussels I (recast) (the Regulation). It covers the general rule as well as exceptions to that rule. Finally, it considers forum non conveniens in this context. The CJJA intra-UK jurisdiction regime is intended to provide rules to allocate jurisdiction within the UK itself. Different rules and considerations apply when determining whether the courts of the UK have jurisdiction to hear the claim in question when there is an international element to the claim. The UK is made up of four countries, but only three legal jurisdictions: England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. CJJA 1982, s 50, refers to each of these as ‘parts of the UK’. English lawyers dealing with cross-border litigation need to be aware of a variety of different

Introduction The Industry Mutual Hold Harmless Scheme (IMHH) was introduced in 2002 following an in-depth cross-industry consultation process, facilitated by Leading Oil and Gas Industry Competitiveness (LOGIC). The purpose of the IMHH’s introduction was to fill the ‘contractual gap’ among contractors where the LOGIC Standard Conditions of Contract (the ‘LOGIC Standard Conditions’) (or other contracts that use a ‘small family’ indemnity regime (see below)) were used. The LOGIC Standard Conditions are standard form conditions of contract produced by LOGIC that were originally developed to apply to the lifecycle of oil and gas activities, such as on- and off-shore services, well services and construction but are also now used in relation to offshore renewable power projects, such as with respect to the construction and/or maintenance of offshore wind farms (including related transmission infrastructure) and also in relation to the construction and maintenance of electricity interconnectors. This IMHH regime is also usually adopted in offshore projects where newly built infrastructures are in close proximity to existing infrastructure

The percentage used as part of the allocation of a premium to buy units. An allocation percentage is used to broaden or narrow the bid/offer spread, so an allocation percentage of 101% would narrow the bid/offer spread whilst a percentage of 99% would widen the spread.

Reasonable preference A local housing authority (LHA) must have an allocation scheme for determining priorities and for defining the procedures to be followed for the allocation of accommodation. The scheme must be framed to give reasonable preference to applicants who fall within the reasonable preference categories. The duty to ensure that reasonable preference is afforded to those applicants that fall within these categories is the main statutory requirement imposed on LHAs in respect of priorities, based on applicant’s housing need. Reasonable preference categories The reasonable preference categories are as specified in section 166A(3) of the Housing Act 1996 (HA 1996) in relation to England and HA 1996, s 167(2) in relation to Wales: • people who are homeless within the meaning of HA 1996, Pt VII or owed a duty under ◦ HA 1996, s 190(2) (those eligible applicants who are homeless intentionally) ◦ HA 1996, s 193(2) (eligible applicants who are in priority need and are not homeless intentionally), or ◦ HA 1996, s 195(2) (those

A form served on the parties to claim by the court, by which the parties provide the court with the information necessary to allow it to allocate the claim to a track.

ARCHIVED: NOTE: SAVE FOR WHERE A DEFENCE HAS BEEN RECEIVED BEFORE 1 APRIL 2013, THIS PRACTICE NOTE IS FOR HISTORICAL PURPOSES ONLY. For guidance on the current provisions, see Practice Notes: Directions questionnaires and Case management—allocation—the different case management tracks. Changes since 1 April 2013 Since 1 April 2013 allocation questionnaires have been replaced with directions questionnaires where 'a defence is received' on or after 1 April 2013. What is not clear is: • whether 'received' means by the court rather than by the other parties and/or • whether 'a defence' means that, in the case of multi-defendants, the new provisions will apply where any of the defendants files its defence on or after 1 April 2013, even if any of the other defendants have filed theirs before then If you now have to deal with directions questionnaires rather than allocation questionnaires see Practice Notes: Directions questionnaires and Case management—allocation—the different case management tracks. What is an allocation questionnaire? This document provides the court with the information it needs to decide both

Local Government analysis: A judicial review against the defendant’s decision not to backdate an application for rehousing under the council’s Part VI of the Housing Act 1996 (HA 1996) allocations scheme. The local authority had rejected the request on the basis that it held no discretion to do so. The court overturned this and decided that the scheme did contain such a power and that the council had acted unlawfully in failing to consider the exercise of that power. The judgment went on to criticize the council’s conduct during proceedings and found that it had failed to meet the duty of candour and the duty of co-operation required in judicial review proceedings. Written by Kevin Long, solicitor at Hackney Community Law Centre.

This Practice Note explains that a local housing authority (LHA) can allocate housing accommodation as it considers appropriate based on the needs of the local community formulated into a published allocation plan. If an application is made, it must be considered and a decision made based on the application of the published allocation criteria. The applicant has the right to request a review of the refusals and be informed of the decision on review and the grounds for it. It explains when a challenged is governed by statute or should be brought by way of judicial review. Applications for housing—decisions An LHA must consider every application for an allocation of accommodation made in accordance with the procedural requirements of its allocation scheme. Providing that demonstrably proper consideration has been given, it is unlikely that the court will interfere with the approach of the LHA. In R (on the application of Heaney) v Lambeth Borough Council, Collins J dismissed the claim for judicial review on the grounds that the

This Practice Note deals with eligibility for allocation of housing accommodation by local housing authorities (LHAs) in England and Wales. It identifies circumstances in which an applicant will not be eligible for an allocation of social housing which in England relate exclusively to immigration status. In Wales, there is an additional category of unacceptable behaviour that may exclude an applicant from eligibility for an allocation of social housing. This Practice Note focuses on eligibility for the allocation of LHAs in England and Wales under Part VI of the Housing Act 1996 (HA 1996). All applications for an allocation must be considered, however, an allocation can only be made to an eligible person. See Practice Note: Allocation of housing. What does eligibility for allocation of housing mean? Eligibility primarily concerns immigration status, although in Wales, there is an additional category of ineligibility, relating to unacceptable behaviour, which is discussed in detail below: Wales and unacceptable behaviour. The responsibility for determining whether or not an applicant is eligible to be allocated