Even during this pandemic if Social Services (the Local Authority) are involved with your family because they have concerns for your child or children, you may receive a ‘Letter before Proceedings’ from them.
The letter will include details of a meeting, which is sometimes referred to as a ‘PLO’ meeting. This stands for ‘Public Law Outline’. This is a series of meetings which try to address Social Services’ concerns about the care of a child or children. This meeting is organised by Social Services and it will be attended by the Social Worker, Team Manager and their Legal Advisor. In addition, any other parent would also be invited to attend.
Normally a parent or Guardian would attend this meeting in person, along with their solicitor. However, due to the Covid-19 restrictions these face to face meetings are not possible at present. This will not prevent the meeting from taking place as meetings will be held via telephone conference facilities or via a video call.
Therefore, if you have received a letter from the Social Services with the heading ‘Letter before Proceedings’ or ‘Letter of Intention’ it is extremely important you do not ignore it. When you receive this you should contact a family law solicitor that is a specialist in the law relating to Children. If you are the parent for the child named on the letter then you will not have to pay for your solicitor as you will be eligible for Legal Aid.
At Martyn Prowel Solicitors our family department are able to discuss the letter and your case via a telephone appointment. We are able to contact the Social Services for you on your behalf to get all the information about the meeting. We will send you all the relevant paperwork in the post (or email if you prefer) so you do not have to come to the office at this time.
The meeting is very important. It aims to put a plan in place to prevent the concerns continuing and to stop you having to go to Court. During the meeting Social Services will talk you through their concerns that should have been contained in the letter. You can respond through your solicitor and they can speak for you.
There are various options available to Social Services following the meeting. If you have worked well with Social Services, they may feel the matter can be dealt with and no further meetings are required.
If they feel that the concerns are ongoing and possibly getting worse Social Services may wish to carry out a ‘Parenting Assessment’ to establish if these concerns can be reduced. They could ask you to discuss a ‘Written Agreement’ with your solicitor. This is a document that sets out changes that they want you to abide by and agree to, as well as setting out what they will do. Your solicitor will go through each of these with you.
If Social Services agree to a Written Agreement they will then arrange a further meeting to discuss the outcome of the Parenting Assessment and decide on future plans. Social Services may also ask you to put forward any family members or close friends as people that could look after your child or children while the concerns are being addressed. These are people you wish to be assessed to care for your child. They are a safety net to avoid your child or children being placed in the care of Social Services.
If Social Services are very concerned they could make an application to the Court. The Covid-19 restrictions do not prevent this application being made or the Court listing the case for a Hearing. Courts are open and cases are continuing to run during the pandemic.
If you have received a Letter before Proceedings or Children’s Services are involved with your family please contact our dedicated team at Martyn Prowel to discuss you matter further on 029 2047 0909.