Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Session 1
INTRODUCTIONS
Aim – To introduce the trainers, aims
and objectives, programme for the day
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Aims and Objectives
Aims
Participants should:
• Understand requirements of the new
PLO and revised Statutory Guidance
• Understand the onus these reforms
place on individuals and organisations
to prevent unnecessary delay
• Be enabled to cascade key
messages and learning points
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Aims and Objectives
Objectives
By the end of the day to be able to:
• Describe core components of PLO
and revised Statutory Guidance
• Identify how the new processes and
procedures differ from current system
• Illustrate implications of the reforms
on working practices
• Identify how to cascade training
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Programme
10a.m.
Session 1 – Introductions
10.20a.m.
Session 2 – DVD about PLO
10.40a.m.
Session 3 – Overview of Changes
10.55a.m.
Session 4 – Statutory Guidance
11.30a.m. – 11.50a.m. – TEA & COFFEE BREAK
11.50a.m.
Session 5 – Case Study
12.45p.m. – 1.45p.m. – LUNCH
1.45p.m.
Session 6 – Public Law Outline
2.15p.m.
Session 7 – Case Study
3.15p.m.
Session 8 – The Way Forward
4.00p.m.
END
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Session 2
DVD INTRODUCING THE
PUBLIC LAW OUTLINE
Aim – To outline why change to the
care proceedings system is necessary
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Session 3
CARE PROCEEDINGS
REFORMS:
An Overview
Aim – To summarise the background to
the reforms and outline the main
changes to become effective in April
2008
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
CONTEXT
• Over 14,000 applications (by child) for care or supervision
orders each year
• More than 60% of care proceedings involve children under six
years of age
• Cases frequently take longer than 12 months to reach a
conclusion…and the longer it takes, the longer a child has to
wait for a decision as to their future
• These children, and their families, are some of the most
vulnerable and socially excluded people in our society
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
CASE FOR CHANGE
Care Review (May 2006) found unnecessary delay
caused by complex set of drivers:
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poorly prepared court applications;
ineffective case management;
scarcity of judicial resources;
variation in quality of representation;
expert evidence that takes a long time to commission
and/or is requested late and/or does not provide suitable
guidance for the court;
late allocation of the children’s guardian;
alternative carers emerging late in proceedings;
variations in regional practice.
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
CARE REVIEW
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Review of the Child Care Proceedings System in England and
Wales (May 2006) highlighted five key areas for attention:
– Helping families - ensuring families and children understand
proceedings
– Better informed resolution - ensuring applications are made
after all safe and appropriate alternatives have been explored
– Preparation for proceedings - improving the quality and
consistency of applications
– During proceedings - improved case management
– Inter-agency working - ensuring closer professional
relationships
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
KEY REFORMS
• Volume 1 (Court Orders) Children Act 1989 Guidance
and Regulations
– revised statutory guidance for local authorities, issued by the
Department for Children, Schools and Families and Welsh
Assembly Government
– issued under the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970
• Public Law Outline
– replacing the current Protocol for Judicial Case Management
– setting out how cases will be managed through the courts
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
STATUTORY GUIDANCE
Key changes:
– Incorporates Framework for the Assessment of
Children in Need and Their Families - ensuring
core assessments are completed
– access for parents and those with PR to preproceedings legal advice
– front-loaded preparation: emphasis on preproceedings work by local authorities
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Public Law Outline (PLO)
Key changes:
– Four stages, rather than six
– Advocates’ meetings
– Timetables focussed around the needs of the child
– Cafcass/Cafcass Cymru analysis and
recommendations
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Session 4
STATUTORY GUIDANCE
Aim – To cover the revisions to the
Statutory Guidance and the introduction
of the Pre-proceedings Checklist
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Relevant training materials
• Section 2, training packs:
– pre-proceedings flowchart
– slides
– chapter 3, Volume 1 (Court Orders) Children Act 1989
guidance and regulations
– template ‘letter before proceedings’
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Structure of the guidance
• Chapter 3 - care and supervision - supports the PLO
• But we must not forget the other chapters, which
reflect case law and policy developments:
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Chapter 1 - introduction
Chapter 2 - private law
Chapter 4 - emergency provisions
Chapter 5 - secure accommodation
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Engaging with families
• Good evidence-based assessments
• No ‘surprises’ about the issues
– parents fully involved and informed about the possibility of
proceedings
• Plans in plain written terms
– explained to families and children
• Effective communication with children and families
– tailored to their needs
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Engaging with families
• Clarity of expectations and consequences
• Identifying all significant adults in the child’s family
and their role
– completing appropriate kinship assessments
• Quality initial and core assessments
– good quality, ensuring core social work takes place
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Preparing for proceedings
• Legal planning/gateway meetings - determining
whether it is appropriate to issue a ‘letter before
proceedings’
• Letters before proceedings - tailored for each
individual case
• Entitlement to pre-proceedings legal advice parents/those with parental responsibility
• Meeting with parents, advocates and local authority
• Completion of the pre-proceedings checklist
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Pre-proceedings checklist
From local authority files:
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previous courts orders and judgments/reasons
initial and core assessments
section 7/37 reports
relatives and friends materials
single, joint or inter-agency materials
(e.g. immigration/health)
– pre-existing care plans
– letter before proceedings
To be prepared:
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social work chronology
initial social work statement
care plan
allocation record and timetable for the child
– schedule of proposed findings
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Implementation planning
• Work with other local authorities and agencies to look
at the implications
• Consideration of how local authority processes fit
with the pre-proceedings work, e.g. resource panels
and planning interventions for children
• Clarity internally about the resources available for
working with the family and child at each stage
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Summary - key changes
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Ensuring core assessments fully completed
Exploring kinship opportunities as fully as possible
Issuing a letter before proceedings as appropriate
Pre-proceedings legal advice - helping to clarify the
issues for parents
• Meeting between parents, advocates and local
authority
• Completion of pre-proceedings checklist
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Session 5
CASE STUDY PART 1
STATUTORY GUIDANCE
Aim – To consider how the Statutory
Guidance will work in practice
Address questions 1 – 7 with reference to the revised
Statutory Guidance
Feedback - what aspects of the guidance will help your
practice?
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Session 6
PUBLIC LAW OUTLINE
Aim – To cover the basic requirements
of the Public Law Outline, including the
streamlined court process
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Relevant training materials
• Section 3, training packs:
– flowchart showing the court process
– Practice Direction from the President of the Family Division,
to be used by all parties as a case management tool
– Public Law Outline, pages 9-11 of the Practice Direction
– supplementary application form: PLO1 (Annex A)
– local authority case summary form (Annex B)
– draft case management order (Annex C)
• Section 4, training packs:
– Cafcass/Cafcass Cymru guidance for completion of the
analysis and recommendations
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Pre-proceedings checklist
• Checklist documentation should be filed, together
with the supplementary application form - PLO1
• Balance - if the safety and welfare of the child means
an application needs to be made immediately, local
authorities should not wait until all of the
documentation has been prepared
• The court will review the application and checklist standard directions will be given on issue, requesting
any missing checklist materials and covering matters
such as the appointment of the Children’s Guardian
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Allocation record
• To be filed with the pre-proceedings checklist
• No standard form - to be produced by the local
authority
• It must include a proposal about which level of court
the case should be heard at
• The court will review this and make a decision about
allocation - space should be provided for the court’s
decision in the allocation record
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Timetable for the child
• Set by the court - and reviewed at all the PLO stages
• Will take account of all significant steps in the child’s
life that are likely to take place during proceedings including legal, social care, health and education
steps
• Examples:
– starting a new school
– assessments
– change in the child’s placement
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Streamlined process
• Six stages reduced to four:
– Issue and First Appointment - to allocate and give
initial case management directions
– Advocates’ meeting and Case Management
Conference (CMC) - to identify issues and give full
case management directions
– Advocates’ meeting and Issues Resolution
Hearing (IRH) to resolve, narrow and identify any
remaining issues
– Final Hearing - to determine remaining issues
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Issue focus
• Each stage of the PLO:
– focused on identifying, narrowing and resolving the key
issues in the case
– e.g. drink, drugs, violence
• The focus should be on those issues that need to be
resolved and determined by the court
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Advocates’ meetings
• Only advocates and litigants in person should attend
these meetings
• To consider issues in the case at least two days
before the CMC or IRH
• Completion of the draft case management order - to
be filed by the local authority at least one day before
the hearing - identifying the key issues in the case
• Emphasis on co-operation
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Experts
• There will be a separate Practice Direction on how
and when experts will be appointed in court
proceedings
• The appointment of an expert is a matter to be
determined by the court
• An expert’s report should not take the place of core
social work - e.g. initial and core assessments, and
assessment of family members as carers
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Cafcass/Cafcass Cymru analysis
and recommendations
• Incremental analysis and reporting in order to help
the court focus on the key issues - at each stage of
the case
• Initial analysis and recommendations at day six will
be built upon for the CMC and IRH
• The final report is replaced by a final analysis and
recommendations, which is a sum of the earlier
analysis
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
A new model of practice
• Making an early contribution, with analysis of the preproceedings work done by the local authority
• Understanding and promoting the child’s immediate
and life-long welfare needs, and promoting the child’s
active participation - core to the case analysis,
intervention and case management
• Working with the child as an active partner in their
own case, and identifying issues that might influence
the ‘Timetable for the Child’ at each stage
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Writing for Court
• Reporting at each stage through Analysis and
Recommendations documents
• Working draft for initiative areas - implementation of
final version from April 2008
• Templates provided for:
– Initial Analysis
– Interim Analysis
– Final Analysis
• Checklist for verbal information at First Appointment
(if no time to prepare written document)
• Guidance notes include a ‘Funnel’ document of
questions to be addressed at each stage
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Summary - key changes
• Filing checklist documentation and supplementary
form PLO1 with the application
• New, streamlined court process
• New allocation record and timetable for the child
• Ensuring advocates’ meetings take place
• Completion of draft case management order
• Focus on identifying, narrowing and resolving issues
at all stages of the PLO
• Change in reporting role for children’s guardian incremental and analytical reporting at all stages
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Session 7
CASE STUDY PARTS 2 – 4
PUBLIC LAW OUTLINE
Aim – To consider how the Public
Law Outline will work in practice
Address questions 8 – 23 with reference to the
Practice Direction
Feedback – how will the Public Law Outline help your
practice?
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Session 8
THE WAY FORWARD
Aim – What will you do to implement
the Statutory Guidance and the PLO in
your own agency? How can agencies
best work together?
Plenary to summarise action points
Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training
Action planning - considerations
• Training - how and when will it be cascaded to peers
and colleagues
• Inter-agency working - who do you need to work with
to make this a reality
• Impact assessment - e.g. what working
practices/structures may need to change
• Implementation planning