Edition: 1st

In a climate of financial constraint and increasing public scrutiny the pressures on local authorities to deliver high quality services and good outcomes for children have never been higher.

Decisions by local authorities are made within a context of avoiding unnecessary delay, reduced scrutiny by children’s guardians and the proposed revised focus of family courts in relation to care plans. Similarly, the opportunities for families to negotiate and challenge local authority concerns are more limited and complex. This makes it more essential than ever for professionals to be vigilant in evaluating the quality and transparency of local authority decision-making.

Challenging and Defending Local Authority Child Care Decisions is a standalone guide, as well as a companion volume to Social Work Decision Making: A Guide for Childcare Lawyers. The book is a comprehensive and practical guide for childcare lawyers, other professionals, self-representing litigants and lay parties seeking to understand how to challenge or defend local authority decisions relating to children.

The title takes a practical approach in exploring the roles and powers of local authorities with an emphasis on understanding the usefulness and availability of the various remedies.

The book includes consideration of all the major forms of challenge to local authority decision-making. Key topics include:
• Informal remedies
• Complaints procedures
• Serious case reviews, child death reviews and inquests
• Judicial review
• Applications within proceedings
• Injunctive relief, the inherent jurisdiction and wardship
• Freestanding Human Rights applications
• Appeals
• Damages
• Criminal injuries compensation