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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales High Court (Family Division) Decisions >> Surrey County Council v AB & Ors [2014] EWHC 1115 (Fam) (21 March 2014) URL: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Fam/2014/1115.html Cite as: [2014] EWHC 1115 (Fam) |
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FAMILY
DIVISION
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
____________________
Surrey County Council |
Applicant |
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- and - |
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AB |
1st Respondent |
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- and - |
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CD |
2nd Respondent |
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- and - |
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EF |
3rd Respondent |
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- and - |
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X (Through his Children's Guardian) |
4th Respondent |
____________________
Ms Francesca Wiley (instructed by Blavo & Co Solicitors) for the 1st Respondent
Ms Philippa Jenkins (instructed by Child Law Partnership) for the 2nd Respondent
EF Appeared in Person
Ms Sally Stone (instructed by Blackfords Solicitors) for the 4th Respondent
Hearing dates: 12th -14th, 19th and 21st March 2014
____________________
Crown Copyright ©
Mrs Justice Theis DBE:
Introduction
Brief History
Meeting confirmed that
1) X's needs are such that he needs consistent care
2) CWD will not offer a service
3) SSD to arrange another TAC meeting (team around the child)
Upon it being recorded that the Local Authority issued Care Proceedings on 25th March 2013 which were ultimately listed for final hearing commencing on 12th March 2014
for reasons set out in the judgment of the court
And upon the Local Authority within those proceedings asserting that there was sufficient evidence upon which the court could be satisfied that the Threshold for the making of a Public Law Order was crossed and that as a result of those matters there were grounds upon which the court could approve a placement of X away from his birth family;
And upon the parents not accepting that there was sufficient evidence for Threshold to be crossed
And upon the court hearing evidence from the Allocated Social Worker but not from the parents and therefore not being in a position to determine the facts in issue
And upon it being accepted therefore that no findings have been made in relation to those disputed facts
And upon it being accepted however that there is merit in resolving these proceedings by taking a holistic view in relation to welfare and not therefore requiring to determine issues of Threshold, on the basis that the parents and EF, the paternal grandmother accept that X's welfare requires his long term placement to be with his current carers
And upon the court indicating it will deliver a judgment, on the basis of the evidence heard, in respect of the actions of the Local Authority in this case
And upon it being recorded that the parents accept that as a result of their own disabilities and X's particular enhanced care needs arising from his own disabilities they are not able to care for him now or in the future
And upon it being recorded that the Local Authority does not pursue findings as a result of the parents' concession; it being noted that the Local Authority's case has not been that the parents' disabilities are of themselves the reason why proceedings were pursued. The Local Authority however agreeing to withdraw these proceedings on the basis of the agreements reached
The Legal Framework
1) The agreement reached by the parties was on the basis that the local authority does not pursue its findings regarding the threshold criteria and seeks leave to withdraw the care proceedings. It would be inconsistent with the letter and the spirit of that agreement, if the court went on to make findings, albeit on the lower level necessary to found an interim supervision order. The risk with that course is that it may hinder the future good working relationship between the parties which is not in X's best interests. Particularly as there is going to be a change of team.
2) I am satisfied that the withdrawal of the care proceedings is consistent with X's welfare. In the light of the agreement reached between the parties it would be wrong to require a trial on the threshold issues in this case. The parents accept X will be cared long term by Mr and Mrs SG under an SGO and they accept the revised care plan put forward by the LA regarding their contact. There would be no demonstrable welfare purpose in such a contested hearing. On the contrary I consider such a trial would seriously risk the positive steps made by the parties in reaching agreement. Having said that I am certainly not prepared to say on a summary basis that threshold could not have been made out in this case. As I indicated in argument, Ms Wiley's submission at the start of this hearing that the proceedings were unlawful was ambitious and was wisely not pursued. I did not hear all the evidence and whilst it looked like the issues concerning missed medical appointments and failure to provide breakfast on one occasion during the assessment did not stand up to forensic scrutiny there were other issues, such as the parents' relationship and the emotional care of X that would, if necessary, have required detailed consideration by the court as to whether the threshold criteria was met.
3) X's welfare requires the parties in this case to look forward. I consider that has the best chance of succeeding if the care proceedings are withdrawn at this stage, rather than lingering on in the way suggested which may hamper the parties on the ground being able to move forward with a proper working relationship, which is what X's welfare demands.
4) I have been informed by the parties that there are no procedural or funding obstacles in the way of the same parties being re-constituted within different proceedings. This step will not cause delay.
The actions of the local authority
(1) Delay generally and, in particular, in issuing proceedings
1) X was placed with foster carers in May 2012, care proceedings were not issued until March 2013 some 10 months later. The fact of that delay put the parents in an increasingly difficult position to seek to restore X to their care, as there was no structure to the period of time prior to the issue of proceedings and they did not have effective access to legal advice. To rely, as Ms Horrox did in her evidence, on the fact that they did not take up the offer of legal advice at the PLO meetings misses the point;
2) The decision to take care proceedings appears to have been made prior to November 2012 yet the proceedings were not issued until some 5 months later. Again leaving the parents in limbo with the local authority, in effect, recommending permanent removal of X from his parents care by way of adoption but the parents not being within the structure of legal proceedings to challenge that was unfair. I appreciate the mother at the November PLO meeting appeared to be endorsing the plan of the local authority, but that was without the benefit of independent legal advice and was perhaps illustrative of the internal struggle she has had about where X's best interests lay.
3) The delay in the referral to adult services from February/March to September 2013 was unacceptable. It was caused by a catalogue of errors, a lack of effective co-ordination and structure between teams that should be effectively working together. There appeared to be no system in place to chase up referrals.
(2) Ineffective supervision, planning or co-ordination
1) The initial core assessment dated 25 April 2012 is on the face of it flawed. It details the disabilities both X and the parents have, yet fails to record that in the relevant box which specifically addresses that issue. It records the parents willingness to work with all agencies so that they will be able to care for their son and then in the decision section ignores the options that would flag up further assessment or referral to other agencies and just ticks the 'no further action box'. There is no evidence these inconsistencies were picked up in any subsequent discussions with the ATM or in any of the meetings.
2) When Ms Horrox took over the case she was clear in her evidence that at the handover a residential assessment was no longer being pursued as the mother did not agree. However other contemporaneous documents, one just a few days before she took over from the ATM is reported to state 'the team manager and area manager have agreed a care plan that allows the mother and baby to be placed in an appropriate residential unit for further assessment' and a letter in May refers to the mother waiting to hear about a residential assessment. It is deeply concerning that there appeared to be such a deep level of miscommunication on such a fundamental issue by two of the key social work professionals managing the case.
3) The failure to pick up in supervision (i) there had been no referral to adult services or when there was the delay of six months; (ii) to consider getting advice about how to more effectively communicate with the father; (iii) what further steps could be taken to engage the parents with support services; (iv) filing a care plan seeking adoption when a key referral to the adult disability team was still outstanding (which is not referred to in the Care Plan dated 6 September 2013 or the parenting assessment dated 17 July 2013)
(3) Not keeping an open mind about placement
(4) Content of the statements filed on behalf of the local authority
Conclusion
4. The local authority has considered, carefully the way this case has progressed over the past two years and accepts that there have been some important lessons learnt. As a result, action has been taken to try and address the criticisms levelled at the local authority.
5. In line with theFamily
Justice Review a comprehensive flow chart regarding the process for a multi-agency approach has been developed. This highlights the importance of an early referral to CWD team and Adult services, where there are concerns about complex needs. I refer the court to exhibit SG1, attached
Ms Grindon attaches to the statement a hard copy of an electronic checklist that provides a structure and checklist to decisions that need to be made pre proceedings. It has 'draft' written across it. There is no indication in Ms Grindon's statement as to when it is going to be implemented. In the section entitled 'Prior to Legal Planning Meeting' it states in one of the bullet points 'Any disability, need to refer to adult services or CWD at this point'. It is difficult to see how that is going to avoid what happened in this case.
Postscript
(1) The local authority is now more astute to the interplay between CWD, Adult and Child Protection teams. The document attached to Ms Grindon's statement is intended as a visual and electronic aid to ensure the appropriate referrals are in place, it is intended to act as a further reminder of the practice that must be followed.
(2) I am informed that following the difficulties in this case there has been close liaison between the child protection team and the CWD and Adult teams so that all managers are aware of the need for comprehensive assessments and that the errors in this case of, for example, the earlier Adult assessment (which only considered the parents in their then current positions) are not repeated.
(3) The presentation of theFamily
Justice Review process is being presented to the senior management team next Thursday 27 March
2014. The local authority stress that the reference to draft relates to the tool itself and that the actual processes and the need for a coordinated approach are already in practice within Surrey.
(4) The delay of 5 months in this case between the PLO meeting and issuing proceedings is exceptional to this case and is not standard practice within Surrey.
(5) The legal department within Surrey has been made aware of the matters raised in paragraph 80 that the fact that a parent does not take up legal advice at the pre proceedings meeting may be a factor to take into account in ensuring proceedings are issued promptly.
(6) The observations in the judgment in relation to being more creative about encouraging parents to access adult services will be relayed to the social work teams as a learning tool. As Ms Stone said in the closing submissions on behalf of the Children's Guardian '..more imaginative approaches could and should have been employed to try and encourage the parents to access adult services.'.