It is important that there is a clear distinction between a complaint about a service, and an appeal against a decision of a child protection conference, as these are dealt with differently
Complaint
A complaint may be made by a parent, carer, child or young person when they are unhappy with an aspect of a service provided to them, for example, the quality or reliability of a service, the decisions an agency has made, or about the conduct of staff. Every agency involved in the child protection process has their own complaints procedure.
Appeal
Professionals at a child protection case conference are required to decide whether a child requires inter-agency help and intervention through a formal child protection plan because of a risk of significant harm in the future (Working Together 5.99).
This procedure provides parent (with parental responsibility) or an immediate carer, a child or young person with a means of challenging the decision to
- Make a child subject to a child protection plan
- Continue with a child protection plan (at a review conference)
- Discontinue a child protection plan (at a review conference)
A parent or carer may wish to challenge the basis for this decision because they believe that
- the child protection conference has not been run in accordance with the local safeguarding children board procedures; (e.g. conference has not got reports for all key professionals, the process is unfair or not impartial, etc.)
- the facts of the case on which the decision is based are incorrect,
- The decision is not justified by an analysis of the facts of the case (the criteria for the child being the subject of a child protection plan were not met. – the risk/likelihood of significant harm is not demonstrated)
In all circumstances, decisions will be taken with the interest of the child as the paramount consideration and the safeguarding unit will aim to resolve disagreements at the earliest possible stage.
(Where there are continuing disagreements among professionals, this may be dealt with through the escalation of issues through line management – see resolving professional disagreements)
Whilst a appeal is being considered, the decision made by the conference stands.
The independent safeguarding chair and/or the social worker may use their professional judgement after the conference to help the parent come to a better understanding about the conference decision.
The appeal process
The parent or carer wishing to appeal a case conference decision should write using the template provided to the principal children’s safeguarding manager, explaining the reasons for the appeal, within three weeks of the conference. If new evidence becomes available after this date, consideration will be given to accepting an appeal later on. This decision is at the discretion of the principal children’s safeguarding manager.
The principal children’s safeguarding manager will decide within two weeks whether or not they consider there are grounds for an appeal hearing. If it is agreed that there are sufficient grounds, the principal children’s safeguarding manager will request the LSCB to convene within three weeks a panel, consisting of three members with experience of safeguarding issues but having no connection with the case in question. One member of the panel will be identified as chair, and one member should have significant direct experience of child protection procedures and case conferences.
If it is decided that grounds for appeal are not met, the appeal will not proceed. In both cases the principal children’s safeguarding manager will confirm their view to the appelant in writing.
The panel would need to determine whether the case conference decsions was unsound because
- Procedures were not properly followed
- Key information on which the decision is based is in doubt
- The conclusion that a child is (or is no longer) at risk of significant harm is not justified by the information available to the case conference
The panel must be provided with:
- A copy of the relevant conference notes and the reports that were made available to the conference
- A list of names, addresses and telephone numbers of the conference chair, all other professionals involved and of family members concerned
- Support from the LSCB Business Unit
The panel will:
- Receive a written submission from the appelant
- Consider written material that was available to the original conference
- Adjourn if necessary, to request further information or attendance of the parent, the conference chair or any other conference participant
- Reach a decision
- Agree the content of their letter to the appelant regarding their decision
The panel’s decision is final.
The decision of the appeal panel will be communicated verbally and in writing to the appellant within five working days, and to all members of the relevant conference.
Appeal upheld
If the appeal was upheld and a recommendation made to re-convene the conference, this must be under a different conference chair. The appeal panel will provide the reconvened conferences with details of the issues in the case that should be reconsidered.
Where an appeal has been upheld and a conference reconvened all parties including the appelant will need to accept the decision of this further conference. The chair of a reconvened child protection conference (either an initial or a review) must ensure that all those present have seen or are briefed at the conference about the decisions reached regarding the appeal. A distinction must be made by the chair between the need to discuss the conclusions of the panel and the task of the child protection conference, which is to consider the child/ren’s current circumstances.
Appeal not upheld
If the panel concludes that the procedures relating to the conference were correctly followed and that the decisions reached were reasonable, it must confirm that the conclusions of the original conference stand and that these will be routinely reviewed when the next conference is held.
The panel should also consider any specific concerns, which may be relevant to individual agencies involved with the case, and may make recommendations relating to practice, procedure or training to the local safeguarding children board for its consideration.
Further challenge
No further internal processes for appeal exist in those cases where it is concluded that all relevant processes were followed and that the decisions that were made were reasonable and appropriate. A appelant who nonetheless remains dissatisfied may wish to pursue their grievances via the Ombudsman or a Judicial Review.
