IRO and Legal Services Protocol

The Principal Lawyer, will be the central point of contact for the IRO service and Legal Services. They will act as lead liaison and facilitate contact between the IRO and allocated lawyers in Legal Services.

In the absence of the Team Manager for the IRO team the Principal Lawyer will liaise with the IRO administrator.

Thereafter, it is expected that the allocated IRO will liaise directly with the allocated Lawyer regarding a child's case. If it is not possible to contact the IRO, the IRO Team Manager should be contacted.

Where a child is looked after (CLA) but not yet subject to proceedings the allocated Lawyer will establish the details of the IRO as part of the Legal Gateway/Planning Meeting (LPM) process. Details should be included on the referral form.

At an LPM where advice is sought regarding threshold for proceedings to be issued, the lawyer will ask the social worker the IROs views on the proposed care plan which should be sought in advance of the LPM.

When a recommendation has been made at a statutory review or CPCC that Family Services should convene a Legal Gateway/Planning Meeting, the IRO will notify the Permanency Progression Manager within 5 working days. The Permanency Progression Manager will ensure this is progressed in a timely manner. If the social work team decide it is not necessary the Permanency Progression Manager will ensure that the reasons are communicated to the IRO. In most cases they will convene a meeting between the IRO and social work team to see if agreement can be reached. If they are not satisfied with the response then the IRO can seek legal advice directly from the Principal Lawyer.

IRO's details and preliminary views are to be put on the referral form prior to a LPM and the allocated Lawyer will check that it is available to them along with other documentation required for the LPM. Where care proceedings are being contemplated or a decision has been made by Children's Social Care at a Legal Gateway/Planning Meeting for proceedings to be initiated this information will be provided to the court and CAFCASS at the time the application is filed. The allocated lawyer will automatically copy the allocated IRO into the Court's response to issuing (the standard directions).

Where the child is not already a Child Looked After, Legal Services and the social worker will notify the IRO service (via their administrator and copied to the Team Manager) within 48 hours of the making of any Interim Care Order (or an Emergency Protection Order) by virtue of which the child becomes looked after.

Upon receipt of the notification the IRO service/administrator will inform Legal Services the name and contact details for the allocated IRO, within 5 working days.

Legal Services will be responsible for notifying the Court and CAFCASS (or in the absence of a Children's Guardian the child's solicitor) of the name and contact details for the allocated IRO.

A spreadsheet of cases with legal input noting the details of respective lawyers, Guardians and IROs will be shared between the services and updated on a monthly basis. Legal Services will also provide details of the allocated Lawyer and Children's Guardian (if one has been appointed) to the IRO administrator.

Allocated lawyer will inform the IRO service, via the allocated IRO, once a Children's Guardian is appointed for a child together with their contact details.

All legal documents must be loaded by the allocated social worker onto LCS via the 'documents tab' as soon as available so that these are readily available to the IRO. When a child becomes looked after by virtue of an interim care order the allocated Lawyer will provide to the IRO administrator (or the IRO directly in the case of a child already looked after), within 5 working days, the following documents:

• The court application form;
• Initial social work statement;
• Initial court care plan (if one has been prepared);
• Social work chronology.

Thereafter copies of all relevant Court documents, including:

• Court orders and directions;
• Reports of experts;
• Reports of the Children's Guardian;
• Will be uploaded by allocated SW within 5 days of receipt.

The IRO administrator will be responsible for forwarding to Legal Services, to the allocated Lawyer a copy of the minutes of all statutory reviews that take place after proceedings commence.

Should the parties request any previous reviews the allocated Lawyer will request these from the IRO service.

If during the proceedings the IRO is concerned about the planning or progress of the case, they will immediately inform the Permanency Progression Manager and the social work team. The Permanency Progression Manager will find ways of mediating the discussion. In most cases they will convene a meeting between the IRO and social work team to see if agreement can be reached. If they remain dissatisfied then they must seek legal advice via the principal lawyer.

Prior to the filing of the Local Authority's final statement and care plan the draft needs to be with the IRO five days before it is due to be filed. They will return it 24 hours later with any comments. The allocated lawyer will email the IRO an alert that the social work team is due to submit its draft final evidence on a specified date.

The IRO will ensure their views are communicated to the child's social worker so these can be included in the local authority's draft final care plan and statement when it is submitted to Legal Services. This should be copied to the Permanency Progression Manager.

If there is disagreement the Permanency Progression Manger will take a lead in resolving the matter in a timely manner. They will also ensure the operational Head of Service and Principal Lawyer are informed of the IRO alert and any responses to it.

It is the individual responsibility of the IRO, Social Work Team and lawyer to make sure they are aware of the relevant Court timetable which will specify when assessments are available and final evidence is due for each case they are involved with.