Agenda item

Report of the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People

The Committee considered a report of the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People regarding a backlog in the Court/judicial system which had been exacerbated by the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the delivery of children’s social care services in Staffordshire (schedule 3 to the signed minutes).

The President of the Family Division issued instructions on 19 March 2020 that all family hearings should take place remotely until further notice, unless fairness and justice required that a court-based hearing should be conducted. This coincided with in the introduction of national social distancing measures in an attempt to stem the spread of the virus. Since that time, substantial delays in proceedings were being experienced owing to (i) the requirements of remote hearings; (ii) a shortage of judges and; (iii) Magistrates having stopped sitting causing an increase in cases referred to District and Circuit Judges.

During the early stages of lockdown, in order to manage their case lists, judges had been forced to reduce the time allocated for hearings, vacate scheduled hearings and list only urgent cases. Most contested fact findings or final welfare hearings had been adjourned and the inability of Local Authorities to conduct specialist assessments in a timely way was a further contributory factor to court proceedings being delayed.

In Staffordshire, whilst new and urgent care proceedings had continued to be issued to safeguard children requiring immediate protection, the overall impact of the above-mentioned delays remained significant. In particularly there had been:- (i) an increase in the numbers of looked after children (owing to planned discharges, SGO’s and Adoption Orders not being made); (ii) an increase in social workers’ workloads arising from (i) above; (iii) issues in respect of care assessments becoming outdated; (iv) an increased risk of birth parents challenging Adoption Orders on the basis of a change in circumstances; (v) disruption in the bonding process between adoptive parents and children; (vi) a decrease in opportunities for older ‘hard to place’ children to achieve permanency. However, the County Council were actively working with partners and the judiciary to identify opportunities to reduce pressures in the court system and associated financial consequences on the Authority.

During his presentation of the report, the Cabinet Member highlighted that there were currently 60 proceedings in motion together with various other Adoption Orders which could not be completed at present owing to the backlog. However, he referred to regional meetings which had been held with Judge HHJ Sonia Harris regarding implementation of a Court Recovery Plan and informed them that additional time had been identified during December 2020 for her to consider Adoption Orders relating to Staffordshire Children. In addition, a further such session was to be arranged in January 2021. The Cabinet Member went on to re-assure them that representations made by the County Council were helping to highlight the backlog and associated problems with the Ministry of Justice, Department of Education, and HM Court and Tribunal Service etc so that appropriate solutions could be found, as a matter of urgency. He also referred to the on-going financial implications for the County Council arising from the continued delays.  

During the discussion which ensued Members expressed serious concern over the impact of the court backlog on the welfare of children in the County. They acknowledged the importance of the Authority’s safeguarding role and hoped that progress could be made in reducing the volume of outstanding cases, as soon as possible. However, they acknowledged that the County Council had worked in partnership with other agencies in an attempt to mitigate the effects of the current situation and recognised that efforts were being made by Government and judiciary to address the problem.

The Chairman then thanked the Cabinet Member for his attendance and opportunity to give constructive scrutiny to the above-mentioned matters for the benefit of residents of the County. 

RESOLVED – (a) That the report be received and noted.

(b) That the Committee be kept informed of any further developments relating to Court Backlog: Impact on Children's Social Care so that further scrutiny could be given, as appropriate.