Care plans were ill-starred

In re W and B (Children: care plan) In re W (Child: care plan) (H of L TLR 15 March)

Although the judgments of the Court of Appeal had performed a valuable service in highlighting the pressing need for the Government to attend to the serious problems arising from the view, widespread among family judges, that all too often local authorities’ discharge of their parental responsibilities after the making of a care order fall short of an acceptable standard, the Court of Appeal had passed well beyond the boundary of interpretation in prescribing that if ‘starred’ milestones in a care plan were not achieved within a reasonable time inter-disciplinary action must be taken. The House also expressed reservations about the Court of Appeal’s second innovation, of proposing a series of interim care orders, rather than a final order, in order to achieve continuing control over care plans