THE CHILDCARE
COURT PROCESS
WHAT IS REQUIRED
FROM ALL AGENCIES?
FIONA GINGELL
SUPERVISORY SOLICITOR
LEICESTER CITY COUNCIL
INTRODUCTIONS
 Guide to inter-agency working to
safeguard and promote the welfare
of children
 Includes the legislative
requirements and expectations on
services to promote the welfare of
children
 A clear framework for LSCBs to
monitor the effectiveness of local
services
 Guidance is for LAs, LSCB,
professionals from health services,
adult services, police, education,
voluntary and community sectors
WORKING
TOGETHER TO
SAFEGUARD
CHILDREN –
MARCH 2013
 Key Principles:
 Safeguarding is everyone’s
responsibility – for services to be
effective, each professional &
organisation should play their part
 Child-centred approach – for
services to be effective, they
should be based on a clear
understanding of needs and views
of children
WORKING
TOGETHER TO
SAFEGUARD
CHILDREN –
MARCH 2013
(cont)
 Information Sharing
 Effective sharing of information
between agencies is essential for
effective identification, assessment
and service provision
WORKING
TOGETHER TO
SAFEGUARD
CHILDREN –
MARCH 2013
(cont)
WHAT PUBLIC LAW
ORDERS CAN THE COURT
MAKE?
Care order (interim or final) – allows the Local
Authority to share parental responsibility
with parent(s) or anyone else holding PR for
the child such as a grandparent
Supervision order (interim or final) - provides
for the Local Authority to ‘advise, assist and
befriend the child’
 Under s8 Children Act 1989 the
Court can make the following
orders:
 Child Arrangement orders
(previously residence & contact
orders) – to determine with whom
a child should live & contact
arrangements for a child
 Prohibited steps order – no specific
step shall be taken without
consent of court
 Specific Issue order – giving
directions to determine a specific
question which has arisen
WHAT PRIVATE
LAW ORDERS
CAN THE COURT
MAKE?
 S31 (2) Children Act 1989 – A court
may only make a care or
supervision order if it is satisfied:
 (a) that the child concerned is
suffering or is likely to suffer
significant harm and;
 (b) that the harm, or likelihood of
harm is attributable to:
 (i) the care given to the child or
likely to be given to him if the
order were not made, not being
what it would be reasonable to
expect a parent to given him or (ii)
the child being beyond parental
control
LEGAL THRESHOLD
FOR
CARE/SUPERVISION
ORDERS
 Interim threshold (needed when
seeking interim orders):
 S38(2) Children Act 1989 – a court
shall not make an interim order
unless it is satisfied that there are
REASONABLE GROUNDS TO
BELIEVE that the circumstances
with respect to the child are as
mentioned in s31(2)
 The Court must have sufficient
information to evidence the above
before making an order
LEGAL THRESHOLD
FOR
CARE/SUPERVISION
ORDERS (CONT)
 Interim Removal of a Child from
care of parents
 Re L A (Children) (2009) EWCA Civ
822
 The test from this case is that the
child’s safety must demand
immediate separation
 Or in other words, the risk of the
harm to the child if left in the
placement must be greater than
the harm they would suffer by
being removed from that
placement
LEGAL THRESHOLD
FOR
CARE/SUPERVISION
ORDERS (CONT)
 Pilot has been underway in
Leicester since July 2013
 Formally implemented nationally
in April 2014
 Emphasis on ‘front loading’ work
prior to court proceedings
 Likely to mean social workers are
requesting reports from
professionals involved with the
family and other agencies earlier in
the process, pre-proceedings –
required to evidence the Local
Authority case by way of primary
evidence
PUBLIC LAW
OUTLINE
2014
 Don’t make blanket statements
which cannot be backed up by
evidence
 Avoid standard phrases such as
‘concerning’ – detail is required,
give specific examples
 Detailed information regarding
involvement with the child/family
 Concise information only dealing
with salient points
 Avoid including personal
judgements/values
WHAT
MAKES A
GOOD COURT
REPORT?
 Please refer to precedent
statement
 Court Heading
 Details of your position,
qualifications
 Involvement with the
family – over what period
of time?, how often have
you had contact?, detail
parent’s level of
engagement with
you/your service, details
of discussions with other
agencies, detail any
concerns in your
professional opinion
SUGGESTED
FORMAT OF A
COURT
STATEMENT/REPORT
 Wherever possible,
ensure the information is
‘first-hand’, written by the
member of staff actively
involved
 A Statement of Truth must
be added at the end of a
statement:
 “I declare that the
information given is true
to the best of my
knowledge and belief and
understand that it will be
placed before the court
and used as evidence”
SUGGESTED
FORMAT OF A
COURT
STATEMENT/REPORT
(CONT)
 Please be conscious that
when providing a
statement/report, there is
always a possibility you
will be called to give
evidence
 Before giving evidence,
ensure you have re-read
your report and are fully
aware of the contents
 Seek advice from your
manager if necessary
 Legal will only be able to
explain the court process
and cannot guide you on
what to say in evidence
ATTENDING
AT COURT –
USEFUL TIPS
ANY
QUESTIONS/COMMENTS
?????????