The new process seeks to ensure that assessments take place before care proceedings start. What will the court’s approach be if additional assessments are also requested before proceedings?
It is not intended that all of the work done in proceedings is to be shifted pre-proceedings. It is important to ensure that Core Assessments are undertaken wherever possible before proceedings commence and, as part of them, additional specialist assessments may be commissioned in order to help inform the local authority’s decision to take proceedings. Where the contents of a Core Assessment are disputed and the lack of agreement requires protective measures to be taken, the question of another assessment would be one to be addressed in Care Proceedings. Under the Experts Practice Direction, if the question of whether an expert should be instructed is raised, the court should first consider if this work can be completed by a social worker or Children’s Guardian.
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