Charity calls on MoJ to introduce time limits and fast track for care cases

The government should introduce a 30-week time limit for all care proceedings with a 12-week fast-track limit for children under 18 months, a leading charity has said.

Barnardo’s warned that children were being “damaged” as a result of unprecedented delays in courts in England and Wales.

The charity said it was taking up to 65 weeks for courts to rule whether it is safe for children to remain with their parents. Barnardo’s also highlighted data suggesting that:

• Vulnerable children are waiting on average more than a year (57 weeks) before a county court decides if they will be taken into care
• The average time in the family proceedings (magistrates) court is 45 weeks
• At the end of 2009 there were 50% more unresolved care proceedings cases than at the end of 2008
• According to Cafcass, new applications account for less than half of this increase. Barnardo's said this indicated that “the courts are taking longer to close a significant number of cases”.

As well as time limits, Barnardo’s urged the government to consider providing family group conferencing to all children and families prior to care proceedings to ensure the early identification of kinship care.

The charity also called for training for all court staff “to improve understanding of the impact of delay on child development”, and the establishment of liaison forums to improve links between the legal and social work professions “to ensure there is greater confidence in social workers’ professional expertise”.

Martin Narey, Barnardo’s chief executive, claimed that insecurity had spread through the family courts with additional, sequential expert assessments being routinely ordered. Paired with the evident lack of credence given to social workers, this is causing unnecessary delay, he added.

Narey said: “The courts need urgently to reflect on the damage these delays are having on extremely vulnerable children. A year of a child’s life is an inordinate amount of time for them to be trapped in desperate limbo, unclear of their future and very possibly at risk.

“During this time, these children might remain at home with neglectful or abusive birth families or be living in emergency foster care, expected to settle with families they may subsequently have to leave. At a time when stable relationships and secure attachments are vital for a child, they are instead engulfed in a period of uncertainty and confusion.”

Responding to the Barnardo’s report, John Ransford, chief executive of the Local Government Association, said the increased number of children coming into the care system had placed a great strain on many of the services dedicated to helping and protecting them.

He said: “Councils and their teams of front line social workers are well aware of the need to reduce unnecessary process and bureaucracy so they can focus resources on the children themselves.

“The family courts have failed to respond to the increasing number of children coming into care effectively enough. The lengthening court delays pose a very real danger to the vulnerable children councils want to be able to protect and it is clear radical changes are needed to make the system fit for purpose.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesman insisted that the government was committed to reducing unnecessary delay in care proceedings, and had added 4,000 extra sitting days to the family courts in early 2010 to deal with care cases.

He said: "A Family Justice Review is currently underway gathering evidence on problems in the current system and proposals for change. The Panel leading the review shares Barnardo's concerns and has met their representatives to discuss suggestions for reform.

"We are also exploring proposals to make better use of local performance groups to give local decision makers more ownership of the system, empowering them to tackle the local causes of delay."