LBTH Protocol for Filing of Evidence

1. Introduction

The Council has a duty within care proceedings to ensure that there is sufficient evidence, containing a quality analysis of all relevant factors and reasonable options to enable the court to make a decision as to what will meet the child's best interest.

"…there must be proper evidence both from the local authority and from the guardian. The evidence must address all the options which are realistically possible and must contain an analysis of the arguments for and against each option…" - Re BS [2013] at para.34

2. Purpose

The purpose of this protocol is to clarify expectations between Legal and Children's Social Care, in order to ensure that court evidence is filed on time, and contains quality analysis in respect of the best interests of the child, having regard to the welfare checklist. Tower Hamlets has a corporate responsibility to ensure that it complies with its duties to the court and to safeguard the welfare of the child. It is therefore essential that there is adequate management oversight of this process to meet those duties.

3. Pre-proceedings

Delay is no more acceptable within the pre-proceedings process than in care proceedings themselves – the risk of harm to the child is, if anything, even greater. Social workers and the assigned lawyer must therefore comply with the timescales agreed for the timely progression of pre-proceedings cases, namely:

1. Documents submitted for review by Legal five days prior to the Legal Gateway/Planning Meeting;
2. Case discussed at LPM within 10 days of referral;
3. Written legal advice provided within 72 hours of the LPM;
4. If LPM agrees to pre-proceedings, a letter before proceedings must be drafted and sent to legal for review. This letter must be sent to the parents within 3 working days of the LPM;
5. A Pre-proceedings meeting (PPM) with parents and their legal representatives will take place within10 days of LPM. Details of the proposed assessments, including the identity of the assessor and timescales must be brought to the meeting so that the parents know what they are required to do, and a written agreement can be signed at the meeting;
6. A mid-point review PPM will take place within 6-8 weeks of PPM;
7. A final review PPM will take place within 12 weeks of PPM.

4. Decision to Issue Proceedings

In the event that a decision is taken by LPM that care proceedings must be issued immediately, these must be issued within 10 working days of the decision, unless the case is more urgent.

Where interim removal is sought, proceedings must be issued no more than 5 working days after LPM. Where the decision relates to an unborn baby, all documentation must be completed and ready to be issued no less than 2 weeks prior to the baby's birth, in the event the baby is born early; proceedings should be issued on the first working day after the baby's birth.

This means that the draft statement prepared for the LPM must be finalised, reviewed by the line manager and sent to Legal for review within 2 working days of the LPM, together with any other documents that are required for the care proceedings. Legal will give any feedback within 2 days of receiving the statement and the social worker should address any comments/suggestions within 1 day.

The approved letter of issue must be finalised and sent to the parents within 5 working days of the LPM.

Legal will draft the application form and threshold document for the care proceedings within 3 working days of the LPM (unless more urgent) and send to the CSC team for approval. This will be finalised and the application will be issued with the court within 1 working day of the final, signed copy of the statement being received.

5. Timetabling the Case

The allocated lawyer on the case will notify the social worker, their line manager (practice manager or team managers as appropriate), service manager, and any other LBTH employees directed to file reports or statements, of all court filing dates within 5 working days of the court order. If adoption is a possible final care plan for the child, the Divisional Director and PAST team manager will be notified of the date by which the placement application must be issued, to ensure parallel planning is progressed and time allotted for the ADM to consider the CPR and take a decision as to whether the child should be placement for adoption.

A case planning meeting will take place not less than 10 working days before the Local Authority's final evidence is due to be filed. This will be arranged at a time that the Service Manager for the case can chair by the allocated lawyer, who will invite the social worker, their line manager, and any other Social Care staff who have filed evidence in the proceedings, or who are involved in care planning for the child's permanence, including the independent reviewing officer and Court Work Project Manager where appropriate. An updated copy of the court bundle will be circulated to all attendees at least 5 working days prior to the meeting and any updating documents forwarded. It is expected that all attendees will have read at least Sections C (statements), E (expert reports) and F (miscellaneous documents including local authority reports) of the bundle in advance of the meeting.

A note of the meeting, together with legal advice in respect of the strength of the case and any evidential gaps that need to be addressed will be circulated by the lawyer not less than 3 working days after the meeting, and copied to the Service Manager and any managers required to authorise funding or placements.

In the event that the child is of an age where adoption is a possible outcome of the proceedings, the Divisional Director, Children's Social Care will be provided with a copy of the note of the meeting, to enable them to take a view as to whether they are satisfied that adoption has been properly considered.

6. Filing of Evidence

The social worker will complete their evidence and have this checked and amended as appropriate by their line manager, so that this can be sent to the allocated lawyer not less than 3 working days before the filing date. Where the case involves a sibling group, this must include a together or apart assessment. The lawyer will review the documents and respond with any suggested amendments or queries not less than 24 hours before the document is due to be filed. The social worker and their manager will complete any necessary changes and return the signed document to Legal before 3pm on the day of filing, to enable this to be filed by 4pm (or earlier if this is specified in the order).

7. Escalation

In the event that the social worker does not comply with these timescales, the lawyer will in the first instance raise this with the social worker's team manager. In the event no response is received within 48 hours (but before the court's timescale is breached), the lawyer will escalate this to the Legal Team Leader or Deputy Team Leader, who will escalate this to the Children's Social Care Service Manager.

In the event of failure to comply with a filing date, this will be immediately raised with the Divisional Director, Children's Social Care.

In the event that evidence is of a poor quality, the same escalation process will apply. Should the lawyer raised concerns that the evidence prepared does not meet the threshold to support the Local Authority's care plan, this will be raised with the social care team in the first instance. If there continues to be a disagreement in respect of the adequacy of the evidence, this will be escalated to a discussion between the Legal Team Leader, Court Work Project Manager and Service Manager. If no resolution can be reached, this will as a last resort be escalated to the Divisional Director, Children's Social Care and Divisional Director, Legal.