Child Care Solicitors

North Yorkshire directions are increasingly being used by courts in care proceedings. Where a local authority has provided all the evidence on the parents, and professionals provide an opinion which is not in favour of the parents, they can be ruled out as potential carers before the final hearing. This can often occur when a case is not ready for a final hearing and won’t take place for a further few months, usually if a child’s placement is being tested with a relative.

The North Yorkshire Direction derived from the case of North Yorkshire County Council v B 2007 [2008 1 FLR 1645] which granted power to the courts to deal with parents before the final hearing. The local authority considered whether it was in the child’s best interest to be placed with her mother before the conclusion of the proceedings or in the foreseeable future. The mother disputed that the judge should not go further than determining the facts necessary for establishing the s31 threshold criteria and those essential for a decision as to the placement of the child. As there were outstanding assessments of the paternal family and outstanding care plans, the mother contested that it was not the norm and it was unfair for a decision to be made hastily. The mother accepted she was not in a position to have the child returned to her care immediately. However, given that she was making progress in regard to the local authorities concerns, which she could evidence, it was suggested that she would could be in a position to care for her child by the time the outstanding assessments and care plans were completed. The mother did not think it was fair to be ruled out as a carer at that stage.

It was not possible for mother to argue that decisions in care proceedings could only be made when the court is making a final order. It was a split case, which is an example of decisions being made early on in care proceedings which allows the assessments to be completed later on, and a decision in respect of those assessment to follow on.

It is possible to have a threshold hearing prematurely, and where the threshold involves stipulation on the likely hood to suffer harm, as of s31 Children Act 1989. It was held that if evidence was presented against the mother there was nothing that invalidated the court determining matters in advance of the outstanding final care plans and assessment. The court considered 'disposal' that the mother was not going to be in a position to care for the child safely within the timescales of the child.

Therefore, the question in this case was not whether it was lawful or permissible for the court to exercise discretion to deal with matters in the proposed manner, but rather that the existing evidence allowed the court to take the decision prematurely. As the evidence had been obtained on the future prospects with regard to the mother being a prospective carer, it was not going to be rendered ambiguous by continuing assessments of the paternal family. Evidence as to the mother's long term position would therefore be heard despite the case not being ready for a final hearing.

It is imperative to note that the judgment stated that the court ‘could’ have a premature hearing to rule out the mother and that the court does not have to do this in similar cases. There is no criteria set out and it is at the court’s discretion when to use a North Yorkshire direction.


About the author: Erum Naz Khanzada is a trainee solicitor at Duncan Lewis Solicitors in our Birmingham-based child care department. She joined the team in November 2020, and works under the supervision of director Rupinder Jagdev on a wide range of child care matters. If you have any questions about this article or are affected the issues it discusses you can reach her via email at erumk@duncanlewis.com or by telephone on 0207 923 8460.