Red tape is putting the most vulnerable children in society at greater risk, since local authorities have been forced to bear the full cost of court fees for care applications, warns a leading child care solicitor.
Applications to the court for childcare and supervision orders, which are begun by social services when they consider a child to be at risk of significant harm, have reduced by almost 25 per cent since councils began to pay for such cases.
Between April and July this year, 1,611 applications were made by councils in England and Wales, according to the latest figures from the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (CAFCASS). But in the same period last year, there were 2,160 applications, and in 2006, 2,284 were made.
Since May, councils have been forced to pay for child care proceedings as part of a Government drive to make the Courts self-funding through fees. This has resulted in a massive 2,500 per cent increase in costs, with child care proceedings rising from just £150 per case, to £4,825.
Mike Devlin, of Manchester firm Stephensons Solicitors LLP, said: “The rising cost of taking proceedings to protect those children who are suffering neglect or abuse is undoubtedly prohibitive to some local authorities, and could be having a devastating effect by cutting the number of applications made to the Court.
“In tandem with this, there has been a rise in the number of Section 20 agreements, which places ‘at-risk’ children with grand parents or other relatives. However these agreements are not made through the Courts, and the very real concern is that some children may not be getting the care they need because they are out of the Court system, and their parents are not getting access to the legal advice and representation they are entitled to.”
Mike Devlin is head of the family department at Stephensons, with more than 35 dedicated specialists across Greater Manchester and Merseyside. The firm has a very busy practice representing parents, children, local authorities and other interested parties in care proceedings, adoption cases, residence and contact disputes and applications in wardship and the exercise of Inherent Jurisdiction of the High Court.
Mike adds: “The plight of Victoria Climbié is the perfect example of what can happen when there is a delay in taking decisive action. Children must have full access to justice, and rather than life-changing decisions being financially-led, they should be taken because it is in the best interests of the child and it’s welfare.”