Tri-borough councils reveal plans to speed up care proceedings

 

By Tristan DonovanFriday, 09 March 2012

 

Three London boroughs are to trial a new approach to managing care proceedings in a bid to speed up the time it takes for decisions on children's futures to be made.

Designated days will be set aside for care cases at the Inner London and City Family Proceedings Court. Image: David McCullough

The Care Proceedings Pilot by Westminster, Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington & Chelsea councils, which merged their children’s services departments last year, is a response to the Family Justice Review, which called on family courts to complete all public law cases within six months.

The £50,000 project will start in April and requires the boroughs to produce prompt assessments that conform to set standards. Judges will bear in mind the child’s timescales when making decisions, to reduce any delays, and designated days will be set aside for care cases at the Inner London and City Family Proceedings Court.

The boroughs will also hire a case manager to co-ordinate about 100 cases across the three boroughs each year. It will be their job to track and chase the progress of each case and make sure the six-month deadline is met. Case reviews will be conducted after each case is concluded, to inform future practice.
Andrew Christie, head of children’s services for the three boroughs, said: "While the measurable focus of this pilot might be to speed up family court proceedings and hit the six-month target, the overarching aim is to achieve greater permanency and emotional stability for vulnerable children in our care."
Steve Miley, director of families services at Hammersmith & Fulham, said the year-long pilot was only possible because of the three boroughs merging.
"One borough on its own wouldn’t be able to do this. It’s because of the pooling of resources that this can work," he said. "For example, when our combined fostering and adoption service starts work in April that will make it easier to deliver assessments on time. It’s about maximising the benefits of us coming together as three councils."

The local authorities also expected to save money as a result of the pilot through reduced legal bills and demand on care placements and social worker time.

At present, care proceedings in the three boroughs take in the region of 55 to 65 weeks to deal with