Re-Launch of The Public Law Outline

On the 16th January this year the Public Law Outline was re-launched. Sir Andrew McFarlane - the President of the Family Division explained a number of reasons behind what he called his 'broad steer,' using the analogy of a ship, to urge a concerted and sustained effort to return to the 26 weeks rule.

"My fears," he said: "is that delay has become normalised within the system, we've got used to the fact that cases don't finish on time and have 5, 6 or 7 hearings before they get to a final determination."

He went on to say that 26 weeks is a long time in the life of a child, and that in family law cases delay breeds further delay. And we all know that delay in care planning for children is harmful, and disposing of the court case justly and swiftly is in the best interests of the child.

The re-launch of the PLO then focuses on, identifying all of the areas and factors which give rise to delay and outlines key changes to address the concern.

I will attempt to note below, as I see it, some of the changes that will affect social work practitioners.

There is now a firm expectation that local authorities will have done much more of the support, monitoring, assessment and planning work by the time they get to the pre-proceedings stage of the case.

Assessments undertaken prior to proceedings being initiated will be accepted by the court, and thus will not be repeated, unless it's necessary to do so. And if so, convincing reasons will have to be provided, in support of the need to undertake any new assessments.

The instruction or use of experts will be reduced, so that only experts that are really necessary will be appointed.

This places much greater emphasis on both Social Workers and Children's Guardians to see themselves as experts in their field, and fully able to assist and provide valuable evidence to the court.

Non-compliance with court instructions and orders must be notified immediately to the court, and so social work practitioners (along with all parties in the case) will be expected to inform the court in respect of any failure to comply with directions.

Linked to the point above, it is well known that much delay occurs as a result of parents, family members and carers, failing to supply the relevant details of alternate carers. It will be expected that details of alternate carers will be provided either at the Case Management Hearing (CMH) or within one week of the CMH.

Social Workers will be expected to contact their legal representatives, in the event of families and carers failing to comply with the requirements.

There will also be an expectation that clear timelines will be identified for Viability and Full Assessments of alternate carers to be completed, in order to ensure that everyone, knows what's expected of them and how long assessments will take.

Urgent applications, which he stated were often found not to be genuinely urgent, will need to be curtailed. As such it occurs to me that the implication for social workers and the local authority is that they may, have to both manage a greater level of risk, and if intending to apply for an urgent hearing, be very clear, having done all the work possible, why a case is really urgent.

As a longstanding Social Worker one of the issues that stands out for me (whilst being in total agreement with the reasons behind the 26 week rule) is that I strongly suspect, that as a generalisation social workers often do not see and feel themselves to be experts, and this is due to a number of factors related to the way social workers are viewed and treated.

And it has to be recognised that I am not just referring to parents and society generally, I am also referring to the way social workers experience being treated by their employers, by the court and the legal profession.

My view is that if the court wants social workers to view themselves more highly, there has to be some greater understanding and appreciation of the way many social workers feel treated and the impact on their self esteem and sense of wellbeing.

Whilst social workers know they provide a highly important and valuable role, I would be very surprised if a poll taken tomorrow, showed or provided strong evidence that social workers considered themselves to be valued highly and/or respected.

One of the big challenges that results in delay is the national shortage of social workers, and for me (as mentioned before) you don't have to be a Rocket Scientist to understand why it is proving difficult to recruit and retain qualified social workers. You just have to be willing and have the capacity to put yourself in the shoes of social workers; to ask the appropriate questions, and then be prepared to listen to the answers!