Member

Regarding Amendments 7, 8 and 9, we will therefore use statutory guidance to set out clear principles of practice, reiterating that family decision-making should rightly be recognised as a process, not just a single meeting, and building on the evidence from successful models, such as the family group conference approach. On the point about the independent co-ordinator, we agree that, in most circumstances, it would certainly be the case that an independent co-ordinator would be the right approach to take, but there are some examples of times when a social worker has worked extremely closely with a family, is very trusted by that family, who know them well, and the family themselves might request that that person lead the family group approach. In those circumstances, we would not want in legislation to prevent that happening where it was the right thing for the family. The use of statutory guidance will allow us to keep up to date with best practice and ensure a strong evidence-based approach, while allowing local authorities to have the necessary flexibility, based on their knowledge of the families they serve and the child’s best interests.