POLICE and family courts in Greater Manchester are now testing a new way to cut delays in domestic violence and child protection cases.

According to the Government, every day the police have to deal with short-notice requests from lawyers to release information for use in family court cases, but there is no standard way of dealing with these requests, which wastes police time and can delay court cases.

A nine-month joint Department for Constitutional Affairs and Association of Chief Police Officers pilot scheme, which started last week, aims to introduce a common protocol for the disclosure of information in family proceedings. The pilot will be evaluated and, if successful, will be rolled out nationally towards the end of next year.