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MERSEYSIDE & CHESHIRE
PRE-COURT PROTOCOL
Kitty Ferris
Service Director Safeguarding and Specialist Services
Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
WHAT HAVE WE DONE?
Regular meetings across Merseyside LAs,
CAFCASS and Designated Family Judge
 Close collaboration between Merseyside LAs
 Joint agreement to tackle delay
 LAs worked collaboratively to develop Protocol
 Extended work to include Cheshire and Lancashire
 Pre-Court Proceedings Protocol developed and
agreed – for implementation from 1st July
 Jointly commissioned training for social workers
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WHAT MOTIVATED US?
The Family Justice Review and the challenge to our
practice
 A desire to tackle as a ‘system’.
 The ‘red’ status of Merseyside and Cheshire
 The wider context of the Munro Review of Child
Protection
 Delay is bad for children and expensive
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THE PRE-COURT PROCEEDINGS PROTOCOL
Supplements the guidance in the Public Law
Outline
 Provides key research messages and sources
 Includes principles for effective local authority
practice and issues to be addressed before issuing
proceedings
 Describes the key elements of pre-court work
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TRAINING FOR SOCIAL WORKERS
Integral to successful implementation
 Leadership from LAs and Designated Family Judge
is essential
 Must be high quality, authentic and credible
 Objectives of the training:

Introduction to the Pre Court Proceedings Protocol
 Identify and address the issues that cause difficulties
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WHAT TO WE HOPE TO ACHIEVE?
A whole system approach to improving practice and
reducing delay – we see the Protocol as one
element of this
 For practitioners to have a useful guide and
reference point
 To be in a strong position to achieve the 26 week
timescale
 Improved quality of social work assessments and
plans submitted to court
 Improved outcomes for children
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THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
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How can you best engage the whole system?
Robust local procedures to support implementation
Where should decision making sit?
Where does this work fit in the broader context of the Munro
Review of Child Protection: the changing role of social
workers; the early help offer and a re-designed child
protection system?
Where does this work sit in terms of the Social Work Reform
Board professional competencies framework?
Commissioning, service specifications and protocols with
providers
Invest to save