A family court judge has called for improvements to the handling of care proceedings after a case involving two siblings took almost two years to resolve. In a judgment highlighting “unconscionable delay”, Ms Justice Henke said she hoped the case would provide an opportunity to learn lessons and improve future practice.
The proceedings concerned the futures of siblings Q and M, two of their mother’s six children. The youngest child was nearly three years old, meaning public law proceedings had occupied around two-thirds of her life.
In England and Wales, public care proceedings are generally expected to conclude within 26 weeks, although extensions may be permitted where the circumstances of a case justify additional time. Ms Justice Henke stressed that the time limit exists for a reason and had not been respected in this case.
The judge said delays were harmful to children because they prolonged uncertainty about their futures. She also highlighted the additional stress and anxiety experienced by adults seeking to care for them.
Several factors contributed to the delay, including a lack of continuity in judicial oversight and shortcomings in the local authority’s care planning. Surrey County Council was criticised over aspects of its handling of the proceedings.
The case involved 12 case management hearings and delayed assessments involving four or five social workers. Ms Justice Henke identified a lack of focus on the key issues and on ensuring that relevant evidence was available to the court and disclosed to the appropriate parties.
The local authority had also failed to ensure that relevant information was disclosed in time. One social worker attended court insufficiently prepared to give evidence and needed further time to prepare.
The judge said a properly organised and focused court bundle, prepared in accordance with Practice Direction 27A, could have helped ensure that relevant documents were presented in the correct order. It could also have helped the social worker concentrate on the evidence required, rather than having to navigate thousands of pages of electronic material.
The proceedings concluded with an adoption order for the youngest child and a final care order for the other sibling.
Ms Justice Henke said she had highlighted the problems in the hope that other cases could learn from them. She was told that Surrey County Council had begun using the case to identify lessons and improve its practices. The judge welcomed this response but stressed that meaningful change was necessary.
The ruling adds to growing judicial concern about lengthy delays in family care proceedings. In 2024, Mr Justice McDonald criticised a case that took 131 weeks to conclude, describing the delay as “unconscionable”. In another case the following year, a recorder criticised a 16-month delay in listing a hearing.
These cases underline the importance of effective case management, timely assessments, consistent judicial oversight and well-prepared evidence in ensuring that decisions affecting children’s futures are reached without unnecessary delay.
