Ministry of Justice outlines PLO streamlining measures

The Ministry of Justice has published details of its revisions to the Public Law Outline (PLO) which are due to come into effect on 6th April, 2010.

The MoJ describes the changes as “fine tuning” rather than a wholesale revision of the practice direction. The main changes concern the documentary requirements at issue, clarification of the 'Timetable for the Child' as well as making improvements to the PLO forms. The pre-proceedings checklist has been amended to reduce the volume of documents required at issue, while a number of application forms have been consolidated and simplified.

However, the four main stages and timescales of the PLO will remain unchanged and applications for Emergency Protection Orders will remain outside the scope of the PLO.

The changes follow the publication in July last year of MoJ-commissioned research into the operation of the PLO in practice, which found that there were inconsistencies in compliance with PLO standards and that the paperwork requirement of the PLO was “unwieldy and in need of streamlining”.

The PLO was introduced  in April 2008, with the aim of streamlining the process of bringing care and supervision proceedings in the Family Court, putting greater emphasis on case management and advocacy preparation.

Full details of the revisions can be downloaded here.