How Long Will My Child Be Subject To Care Proceedings?
Family Law Solicitor, Lauren Richards discusses ” How Long Will My Child Be Subject To Care Proceedings?”…..
As family law practitioners, rarely a day goes by without mention of ’26 weeks’. It is now engrained firmly in our minds, that public law proceedings should be concluded within 26 weeks.
The 26-week time limit was introduced by the Children and Families Act 2014. This was due to significant concerns as to how long proceedings were taking to conclude, inevitably causing huge delay for children and their families. In 2011, the average case took 1 year to conclude.
Whilst the 26-week time limit avoids delay for children, it does now give only a very narrow window of opportunity for parents to address the concerns of the Local Authority and make the necessary changes. It is vital that the parents address the concerns of the Local Authority immediately as they not only want to see that changes have been made, but that they have also been sustained.
7 years on from the introduction of the 26-time limit, figures from the Ministry of Justice show that from March to September 2021, the average time for proceedings to conclude was 45 weeks. This is a whopping 19 weeks longer than the 26-week limit! Only 24% of cases were disposed of within the 26 weeks and this was down 5% from the same period in 2020.
When Do Proceedings Last Longer?
There are many instances where the Court will allow care proceedings to go beyond the 26-week time limit. This can be for a variety of reasons, such as the instruction of an expert simply means that more time is needed. The Court may also allow further time if they feel a parent has made changes but needs some further time to evidence this. This can especially be the case if there are no alternative placements within the family and the Local Authority are considering adoption for this child.
The lack of judicial availability and the sheer volume of public law cases being issued, also means that the Courts themselves are struggling to cope with the demand which can account for cases going beyond the 26 weeks.
So, in essence, although the 26-week time limit is there, the reality on the ground is that the majority of cases are going beyond that and delay in public law cases continues to be a huge problem.
If your child is subject to Local Authority involvement and you need assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me at l.richards@timms-law.com or via phone at 01283 214231. Alternatively, visit the family law page of our website here.
February 2022