Legal Gateway/Planning Meetings

1. Purpose of Legal Gateway/Planning Meetings

When it is clear that the protection or welfare of a child cannot be achieved by agreement with the parents and the security of a legal order may be necessary to ensure the viability of a plan for a child or the existing court order is not providing adequate protection for the child or is no longer required, a Legal Planning Meeting should be convened. Legal planning follows the Public Law Outline framework.

A Legal Planning Meeting should be convened:

• When there is an assessment by the Team Manager and PLO Court Manager that a legal order may be necessary to protect a child from suffering significant harm;
• For children who have been subject to child protection plans for over 18 months.

Legal Gateway/Planning Meetings are an essential part of the process for dealing with public law children's cases under the Public Law Outline. Sir James Munby, President of the Family Division in 'The Process of Reform: the revised PLO and the Local Authority', states that a properly organised legal planning meeting is invaluable and can be the key to achieving timely outcomes to Care Proceedings. He also recommends that local authority lawyers be involved in advising and assisting their social work clients, at an early stage.

Approval from the PLO Court Manager is required for a legal planning meeting. The LPM request and following supporting documents are required to be sent to the PLO Court Manager.

• A PLO compliant chronology – not the one off LCS as this does not contain any actual details;
• Strategy meeting minutes and resulting Section 47;
• C&F Assessment;
• If the child is on a CP plan – the last CP conference report, the minutes of the CPC, the care plan and the reports from other professionals for the CPC;
• If already looked after, most recent LAC review minutes;
• Any recent viability assessments of kinship/friends carers;
• Reports from any professionals e.g. from CAMHs, police reports, medical reports.

If the LPM referral has been agreed, the PLO Court Manager will send the LPM request and all supporting documents to: HBPL_LegalChildcare4Bucks@harrow.gov.uk

Before the LPM the Social Worker and Team Manager should have discussed the case in supervision and be able to identify at the LPM:

• The significant harm either present or future;
• The facts in the case that support the existence of the alleged harm;
• Details of the care plan.

The LPM is an opportunity to discuss a case fully, having consulted with colleagues to ensure that appropriate legal action is taken when required to promote and safeguard the welfare of the child. However, a case should not be brought to LPM simply because it is 'stuck' or professionals in other agencies are expressing concerns about a child/ren saying that 'something must be done.' These are issues that would be dealt with in supervision or other forums.

The role of the local authority legal adviser is to provide legal advice and guidance on whether a case brought to LPM crosses the threshold criteria, as referred to in Section 31(2) Children Act 1989, the proposed care plan and also around other general legal issues to do with the cases e.g. quality of evidence.

The issues to be considered at the meeting will include the following:

• The reasons for the concerns and the evidential basis for establishing Significant Harm and the Threshold Criteria;
• Why Care Proceedings are necessary - what is their aim, objective and purpose?
• The steps already taken to clarify the issues of concern - i.e. Single Assessment, as well as other medical and other expert involvement;
• Whether the requirements of the Pre-Proceedings Checklist set out in the Public Law Outline have been met, including a written notification to the parents about the areas of concern and their right to seek legal advice. See Care and Supervision Proceedings and the Public Law Outline Procedure;
• When will the Assessment and other supporting documentation be available, if not already?

  Note that with pre-birth situations a recent High Court judgment has set out good practice steps to include:

  • A risk assessment of the parent(s) should be undertaken immediately the social workers are made aware of the mother's pregnancy and should be completed 4 weeks before the mother's expected delivery date and disclosed to the parent(s) (and their solicitor where relevant);
  • All relevant documentation should be then sent to the Local Authority Legal Adviser to issue proceedings.

• The action/decisions already taken and where the decisions were made e.g. Strategy Discussion/Meeting, Child Protection Conference, Core Group meeting;
• The proposed Care Plan for the child, including the proposed placement and any cultural, language and ethnic issues, consultation with parents and the wider family, whether any family members are available to care for the child on an interim or permanent basis, if so whether the required checks have been made, the proposals for contact;
• How the proposed Care Plan is to be achieved;
• Whether it may be appropriate to instruct any further expert assessment before the commencement of court proceedings (these should only consider those which can be resourced internally i.e. CAMHS undertaking an assessment on a child - if so, what are the proposed remit of the instructions and the areas to be addressed, who should the assessment be done by and what are the likely timescales?
• Have there been previous Court proceedings in relation to the family? If so, what steps are required to obtain the papers in relation to the case from the Court? or another local authority?
• When will the social worker's Statement of Evidence and other supporting court documentation be ready?

If Care Proceedings are recommended, the Court Proceedings Procedure should be followed.

Note: where children are already Section 20 Accommodated there should be no delay in issuing proceedings where this is required, (see Decision to Look After Procedure and Care Planning Procedure).

2. Who can Convene Legal Gateway/Planning Meetings

The decision to convene a Legal Planning Meeting will be made by the PLO Court Manager usually following an LPM request once the allocated Social Worker and Team Manager have discussed the case in supervision. The decision can also be considered following a recommendation from a Child Protection Conference, or as a result of a Looked After Review.

3. Attendance at Legal Gateway/Planning Meetings

The following can be invited to attend a Legal Planning Meeting: the child's social worker; the social worker's line manager; any other Local Authority professional who may be involved in the provision of services integral to the order being sought. For example, Family Support Worker.

4. Timing and Duration of Legal Gateway/Planning Meetings

LPM's take place within 5 working days of the LPM request and supporting documents having been received. The legal advisor will arrange a mutually convenient time and will travel to each of the area offices. In emergency situations, LPM's will take place on the same day as the request.

5. Recording of Legal Gateway/Planning Meetings

Notes of Legal Gateway/Planning Meetings should be circulated to all attendees. These are legally privileged and should not be made available to parents or other parties in any potential proceedings without the permission of the PLO Court Manager and legal adviser. Social Workers should ensure that these notes together with all legal advice are not disclosed to third parties who may have a right to view the social care files. For example, the Children's Guardian.

6. Outcomes of Legal Gateway/Planning Meetings

One of the following outcomes will be made at the LPM:

1. The threshold criteria is not met and therefore proceedings will not be issued. An action plan will be agreed on further assessment/evidence required with a recommendation to book the case in for a further LPM once the action plan has been achieved and the Social Worker and Team Manager remain of the view that the case meets the threshold criteria; or
2. The threshold criteria is crossed, but there is time to work with the family in order to avoid care proceedings and the welfare of the child/ren allows this, then the case will follow the pre-proceedings route. A Letter before Proceedings will be sent to the family from the Team Manger inviting the family to a pre-proceeding meeting to explore further support and action by the family. Legal advisers can be present; or
3. The threshold criteria is crossed, but there are immediate protection or immediate issues that require the case to bypass pre-proceedings meeting and issue care proceedings.

7. Review/Subsequent Legal Gateway/Planning Meetings

The meeting should consider whether further Legal Gateway/Planning Meetings are necessary and if so, when.