In May 2008 fees for

child care law proceedings increased from £150 to £4,825, which led to a decrease in applications being made by Local Authorities. Despite the Justice Secretary Jack Straw claiming the dip was not due to the fee increase he still believed that these should nonetheless be abolished. Therefore from April 2011 Local Authorities will not have to pay a fee to issue care proceedings.

In the neighbouring Local Authorities we can see a clear disparity between the amounts of applications that have been issued. This therefore begs the questions whether the budget is a factor.

‘The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report,’ a review conducted by Lord Laming on the 12th March 2009 concluded that fees in care applications should be abolished, and it was up to the Ministry of Justice to ensure that the fees were not acting as a deterrent for Local Authorities not to issue applications. The report also laid down 58 other recommendations but these are not within the remit of this article.

So what are the implications for us? Notwithstanding the fact that we currently have a backlog of Guardians, experts and drug testing companies unable to file reports in time surely the abolishment of application fees means an increase on the already strained resources that we do have.

We are all too aware of the disturbing details surrounding the death of Baby Peter and alleged failings of Haringey Social Services. We in the legal community are still feeling the effects and implications of that tragedy almost two years on. Local Authorities seem to have been given endless resources to prevent another ‘Baby P’ incident and applications for care and supervision orders have increased ever since.

We are seeing far more high profile cases in the media, which highlights the failings of Local Authorities to protect children in their area. This may have led to a culture of fear within the Local Authorities and the abolishment of fees may lead to applications being issued without being fully thought out. It may also be the case that Local Authorities may underestimate the need to protect children in other ways. Whilst Public Law practitioners would welcome any measure that will safeguard children this must be a caution to avoid knee jerk reactions in cases where there is an alternative to proceedings.

Current funding arrangements will run out at the end of March next year. Despite this imminent lack of funding, the amount of applications that have been issued by local authorities has increased. Cutting funding will simply add more backlog to the already strained resources that we have.

Duncan Lewis is the largest civil legal aid provider in the UK and offers child care law to those eligible for legal aid and also private child care law. We have a large team of child care and lawyers and family solicitors, many of who are child care and family panel members. If you are looking for a child care lawyer or a family solicitor, please contact Duncan Lewis’ New client team on 020 79230 4020.