Legal Gateway Meetings

1. Purpose of Legal Gateway Meetings

The Legal Gateway Meeting is an essential part of the process for considering intervention within family life within statutory Legal proceedings. Its purpose is to consider all the information available and decide if the legal threshold is met to commence pre-proceedings or to issue immediate care proceedings.

A Legal Gateway Meeting must be held to discuss the way forward in a particular case, where an application for a legal order may be required. Legal Gateway can make one of four decisions, these being:

• To agree that a child is accommodated by the Local Authority under the arrangements of Section 20 of the Children Act 1989;
• Agreement to enter into Public Law Outline (PLO);
• Where it is considered that the protection and welfare of a child cannot be achieved through present and continued intervention and that it is necessary to make an application to the court for either a Interim Care Order or Interim Supervision Order;
• To review or ratify any decision to initiate care proceedings or accommodate a child made outside of Legal Gateway by the perspective Service manager.

Public Law Working Group Best Practice Guidance: Support for and Work With Families Prior to Court Proceedings sets out some (non-exhaustive) examples of some key points at which a family should be considered for presenting at legal gateway/planning meeting:

• Where a pre-birth single assessment has identified risk and that without change court intervention may be required at birth. This may include Families where the mother or father have had child(ren) removed from their care in the past and there is concern that any presently identified risks cannot be managed with the children remaining in the parents’ care;
• Where a child has a child protection plan and parental engagement with the process, and support services, has been persistently inconsistent and ineffective, limiting progress and putting the child at risk of significant harm;
• Where the child has a child protection plan and there has been no progress and/or the impact of the identified concerns has worsened at the point of the second review conference. Every care should be taken to recognise change takes time, particularly where families are experiencing longstanding challenges;
• Families that have previously been through the pre-proceeding process and similar concerns re-occur.

At the meeting, a decision should be made in principle about whether the Threshold Criteria have been met. The local authority should then decide, based on a robust analysis of the level of assessed risk, whether:

• It is in the best interests of the child to provide a further period of support for the family with the aim of avoiding proceedings; or
• Whether proceedings should be initiated immediately.

The meeting should also identify any evidence gaps, clarify whether additional assessments will be required, and consider what would be a suitable draft Care Plan for the child.

Note: where children are already Section 20 Accommodated there should be no delay in issuing proceedings where this is required. This may differ for teenagers. (see Decision to Look After Procedure, Section 20 Accommodation).

2. Who can Convene Legal Gateway Meetings

The decision to present a case to Legal Gateway should be made by the Team Manager following discussion and reflection with the Practice Manager and social worker.

In reaching a decision to present an application to Legal Gateway, the following points are not exhaustive but should form points of consideration:

• What is the lived experience of the child(ren) and how is it impacting on their wellbeing?
• How long has social care been involved with the family? What are the presenting risks, and the history of such risks, of the local authority and/or other agencies?
• The parents’ understanding and recognition of change requirred to reduce the presenting risks;
• Have any changes been made within the family to mitigate the risk factors?
• What support services have been offered to the family?
• How has the family engaged with these services and what is the impact on the children’s wellbeing / outcome of this engagement?
• What needs to change/happen and what is the plan for the family moving forward?
• How have social and cultural differences and inequalities been addressed? Have interpreters been consistently used whilst working with the family?

3. Considerations

A Legal Gateway Meeting is an opportunity to discuss a case fully, and to consult with colleagues to ensure that children are the subject of active case management and that appropriate legal action is taken when required to promote and safeguard the welfare of the child.

In order to enable a full discussion to take place, the following must be available submitted to the Legal Gateway agenda the before 12 o’clock midday on the Tuesday morning prior to the Legal Gateway panel:

• A completed Gateway Application (from CASS) clearly setting out the recommendation sought from Gateway;
• Genogram (three generational);
• Chronology;
• The pre birth single assessment where the child is unborn;
• A fostering profile of the child where the application to Gateway is requesting the child to be looked after outside of the family.

The Chair’s role is to consider all the information and advice available and decide the most effective course of action to promote the safety and wellbeing of the child(ren).

In coming to a decision, all members of the Legal Gateway Meeting will identify:

• The specific issues, risks and mitigating factors of relevance at this time, which will include known historical concerns;
• Continuing support or any additional direct work to be undertaken with the child(ren) during this period;
• Specify further support the local authority could offer the family to mitigate identified risks;
• How the local authority will continue to assess the risks and/or track positive changes in this period;
• Any expert assessments that are required – including who is being assessed, for what purpose, who will undertake this assessment plus the likely duration;
• Family members who are to be consulted to offer either support or be assessed as alternative carers. The early sharing of necessary information with extended family and the use of a FGC (or similar model developed and used locally) is essential, unless there is good reason why this is impracticable;
• Make a recommedation that the duration of pre-proceedings process will commence from the date of the first PLO meeting at which the plan will be discussed with the parent(s); and agree the frequency of review meetings;
• When the pre-proceedings letter will be sent to the legal team in order to communicate with the family and agree when the pre-proceedings meeting will take place.

The issues to be considered at the meeting will include the following:

• The reasons for the concerns and the evidential basis for establishing Significant Harm and the Threshold Criteria;
• Why Care Proceedings are necessary - what is their aim, objective and purpose?
• The steps already taken to clarify the issues of concern - i.e. Assessment, as well as other medical and other expert involvement;
• Whether the requirements of the Pre-Proceedings Checklist set out in the Public Law Outline have been met, including a written notification to the parents about the areas of concern and their right to seek legal advice. See Care and Supervision Proceedings and the Public Law Outline Procedure;
• When will the Assessment and other supporting documentation be available, if not already?

Note that with pre-birth situations, in order to complete a pre birth single assessment and intervention period, referral of an unborn child is required at the earliest opportunity.

Please refer to Calderdale Pre-birth single assessment and intervention policy and guidance.

If Care Proceedings are recommended, the Care and Supervision Proceedings and the Public Law Outline Procedure should be followed.

Any potential issues/documentation regarding parental capacity to litigate should be flagged up at the meeting.

4. Attendance at Legal Gateway Meetings

Attendance should include:

• Chair: Service Managers from the Locality Social work Teams and MAST, Children’s Assessment Team, Emergency Duty Team and Child Exploitation Team;
• Local authority solicitor;
• Team manager;
• Social worker;
• Care proceedings manager (if appointed);
• Representatives from other services, from the Fostering Team, One Adoption West Yorkshire, The Family Intervention Team and Education and Inclusion Team;
• A minute taker.

Where the child has been in foster care, the views of the foster carer should be sought by the child's social worker, and taken into consideration in the Legal Gateway Meeting. This may include information on the child's progress in their placement and on the impact of contact with their family.

5. Timing and Duration of Legal Gateway Meetings

A Legal Gateway meeting is scheduled for every Thursday at 2.00pm. This meeting is a virtual meeting and is held via Teams.

6. Recording of Legal Gateway Meetings

The decision and reasoning will be minuted. It is essential that these minutes are accurate, concise and clear.

Minutes of the meeting and the recommendations will be added to the Gateway application form so as to provide a comprehensive oversight for the child’s record. These are legally privileged and should not be made available to parents or other parties in any potential proceedings without the permission of the Chairperson or Director.

7. Review/Subsequent Legal Gateway Meetings

The chair of Legal Gateway may request a further review at a subsequent Legal Gateway meeting.

Subsequent review of children within PLO will take place outside of the Legal Gateway Panel within the alternative Legal Gateway/Planning Meeting.