Consultation opens on Interim Supervision Order Report

The Public Law Working Group (PLWG) has released the Interim Supervision Order Report for consultation from 1^st-30th November.

The PLWG is consulting on proposals to law, policy, and practice in relation to supervision orders made at the conclusion of care proceedings to support the child to live with a parent(s).

Their consultation invites responses from those who have a stake in, or are affected by, the children’s social care and family justice systems.

This includes, but is not limited to, families and young people, legal and social care practitioners and managers, directors of children’s services/social services, practitioners and services working alongside/closely with children’s social care, the judiciary, voluntary sector organisations, and practitioner bodies/associations.

The PLWG interim report sets out:

• The research and rationale that has informed the working group’s thinking
• Recommendations for short and long-term change
• At Annex C (page73 onwards), draft Best Practice Guidance which aims to provide clear messages and sample tools to support best practice where children remain with, or return home to, their parents at the conclusion of care proceedings. It is specifically intended to support best practice where the court may consider making a supervision order

Some of the short-term recommendations made within the report include:

• Each local authority’s children’s services department implements the BPG
• Supervision orders are only made when all of the matters set out in the supervision order template within the BPG have been considered and addressed
• Each children’s services department adopts and completes the self-audit questions within the BPG in respect of every supervision order made in its favour
• Each children’s services department considers adopting the “thinking tool” within the BPG
• The Government commits to provide the necessary resources to local authorities to enable them to adopt and implement the BPG to the fullest and most effective extent possible

The report also makes four proposals for long-term change:

• Amending the Children Act 1989 to provide a statutory basis for supervision support plans (akin to s 31A, CA 1989 in respect of care plans)
• Placing local authorities under a statutory duty to provide support and services under a supervision order
• Amending statutory guidance to reflect the recommendations in this interim report and the BPG
• The Government undertaking or funding an external body to identify all supervision orders made by the Family Court to support family reunification and collect data on (a) the supervision plan at the end of proceedings, (b) the implementation of the plan during the life of the supervision order, and (c) change of placement or return to court for the children and their parents up to two years after the end of the supervision order

Questions posed within the consultation are as follows:

1. Should supervision orders be retained as a public law order?
2. Should supervision orders be reformed to be a more robust and effective public law order?
3. Are the recommendations for immediate reform in this interim report sufficient to achieve the goal of making supervision orders more robust and effective?
4. If not, what other reforms or measures should we recommend?
5. Are the reforms and measures set out in the Best Practice Guidance proportionate and practical? Are they, or any of them, overly burdensome to implement for parents/carers, the Family Court, children’s services or others involved in the child protection and family justice systems? If so, how could they be improved?
6. Should guidance be issued by the DfE/Welsh Government to underpin the BPG set out in this report to help ensure consistency of support and oversight?
7. Should there be future legal and practice reforms so that supervision orders are (a) supported under a specific supervision order review pathway provided for in relevant primary and secondary legislation, (b) underpinned, supported and reviewed via the child-in-need framework in England, the care and support plan framework in Wales, or (c) underpinned, supported and reviewed through the child protection framework including through child protection plans?

The PLWG has requested responses to the consultation to be provided by email to martha.thompson@justice.gov.uk no later than 30th November 2022.