This guide is designed to provide advice to parents or others with parental responsibility for a child/ren who has been considered at risk of harm and a move to pre-proceedings has been discussed.
What are pre-proceedings?
Pre-proceedings come before any decision to begin a legal process for your local authority to care for a child. It means that Devon County Council has concerns about the welfare and wellbeing of your child and want to support you to make changes before care proceedings begins.
Government guidance requires social workers to go through the pre-proceedings process with your family before considering or starting any court proceedings (except in an emergency).
You will receive a pre-proceedings letter
The pre-proceedings letter will outline the main concerns, a history of events and the help that has been provided by Devon County Council so far.
Read the letter carefully. It might be helpful for you to write down your thoughts about the concerns and whether you agree. Think about what you could do with help and support to make things better. If you don’t agree, you will need to explain why.
The letter allows you as parents or carers to access free legal advice. It is recommended that you seek immediate legal advice, and your letter will include a list of solicitors who can help you understand the law, the process and attend all meetings with you. It will invite you as parents, and your legal representatives, to a pre-proceedings meeting, usually within five working days of the decision to start pre- proceedings.
You should attend all meetings and reviews with your legal representatives.
What you have to do next
It is very important that you contact a childcare solicitor for independent legal advice. If you do not want to instruct one of the solicitors from the list provided, you can ask Community Legal Advice or visit the Law Society website.
If you have parental responsibility, you will not have to pay for the solicitor to come to the meeting with you as they can apply for legal aid for you. You will need to take the letter and some ID (driving licence or passport) to the solicitor.
What happens if you don’t follow the instructions in the letter
The letter tells you when and where the pre-proceedings meeting will take place. If you do not attend the meeting, Devon County Council may apply to the court to start care proceedings.
If there is a reason why you cannot attend it is important that you contact your child’s allocated social worker so that they can change the time or date. There will be contact details on the letter.
The pre-proceedings meeting (PPM)
Usually, the pre-proceedings meeting will be attended by yourself and your legal advisor, as well as your child/ren`s social worker, their team manager, who will usually chair the meeting, and a legal advisor from Devon County Council.
During the pre-proceedings meeting the changes needed to protect your child/ren will be discussed, so that court proceedings can be avoided. You may also be asked to involve your wider family network to offer practical or other methods of support.
The pre-proceedings meeting is not a routine meeting with children’s services or a social worker. It is an important meeting to look at what needs to change to stop your case going to court. The meeting will look at the worries outlined in the letter and at how you can be supported to make the changes necessary to keep your child/ren safe.
There will then be a ‘period of change’ for up to 16 weeks. During this time, you will have the chance to make the changes agreed in the pre-proceeding meetings, with review meetings to track progress.
How long will the pre-proceedings process last?
The pre-proceeding meetings will end once improvements are made and should last no more than the 16 week period of change. A review pre-proceedings meeting will happen at 8 weeks, to review progress and see if the risks have reduced.
A final pre proceedings meeting will be held at 16 weeks to review progress and agree a conclusion, which will be either to step down from the Public Law Outline (pre-proceedings process) or to request the issuing of care proceedings.
What happens if improvements aren’t made?
If the agreed improvements aren’t made during the period for change, Devon County Council may begin legal care proceedings to provide the best ongoing support or alternative care arrangements for your child/ren.
Where it is decided that care proceedings need to be issued, Devon County Council will need to make an application to court, where under the Public Law Outline guidance, care and supervision proceedings should be completed within 26 weeks.
Further information
Speak with your child’s social worker or your legal adviser.
- Devon County Council customer services 0345 155 1078
- Family Rights Group
- Community Legal Advice 0845 345 4345
- Law Society
The guide is not a substitute for independent legal advice.