The LCC Social Work Evidence Templates (SWET) have been updated in May 2023 to meet the expectations of the Court and are now available and can be used in Lincolnshire.  

The Social Work Evidence Templates can be located under the Local Forms/Resources Section of the Children's Manual: Court Proceedings -Legal 

There are three SWET templates:

LCC Initial Social Work Evidence Template – this is for all other cases  going into proceedings – even cases where we are seeking immediate separation (but are not in the position of needing to issue a same day, urgent application).  This template has a clever number update tab for the 'index' so once the statement has been written if the Social Worker clicks on the index and then clicks the update button and update page numbers only – it automatically works out which section is on which page. 

LCC Urgent Initial Statement – this is 'as it says on the tin' – for use in urgent circumstances (for instance:  when a baby is born and we cannot get section 20 agreement and the hospital are going to discharge baby; when there is a case where there has been an injury to a child and we need to issue urgently etc.) Legal will of course advise as to which template is needed as they will be advising as to how quickly an application will be made and when the matter needs to be in court.

 LCC Final Social Work Evidence Template – this is again 'as it says on the tin'.  It looks a little  more along the lines of the Case Analysis template that Cafcass use. 

Social Workers may find it helpful to familiarise themselves with the updated templates to prepare for writing a statement at short notice. It is also important that ALL guidance notes are to be removed before final drafts are sent to Legal Services.

Source: Ann Wollard