Social workers – not personal advisers – must prepare pathway plans, says High Court

A local authority social worker must author the pathway plan for a young person, not the individual’s personal adviser, a High Court judge has ruled.

In A, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Lambeth [2010] EWHC 1652 (Admin), the claimant argued that the council had failed to assess his needs and to produce a plan in accordance with the Children (Leaving Care) (England) Regulations 2001.

Under the regulations local authorities are under a duty to assess and meet the needs of eligible young people aged 16 and 17. They are also required to keep in touch with young people who have left care to make sure they receive help, work education, training or employment.

The duty runs until the young person is 21, or 24 if they are still receiving help with education, training or employment. Local authorities also have to review the plan every six months.

The plans cover issues such as accommodation, assistance in relation to education and training, financial support, health needs and so on.

A, who will be 19 in December, had previously been looked after by Lambeth. It emerged during the proceedings that his pathway plan had been exclusively prepared by his personal adviser, who acts as an intermediary between the young person and the council’s social services department.

Mr Justice Kenneth Parker ruled that this was unlawful. He said: “Untrammelled by authority, I would not have thought that a personal adviser, even if employed by the authority, may on his own discharge the statutory duty of carrying out an assessment or of making a plan.”

The judge added that the regulations suggested the personal adviser may only “participate” in the discharge of the local authority’s functions. This could legitimately mean the personal adviser taking the initiative in relation to a review and playing a very active role.

Oliver Studdert, the claimant’s solicitor at MG Law, said: “This judgment makes clear that social services cannot cease to be involved with children leaving care once they reach 18.

“The role of the personal adviser should always be to work with the young person and to play a negotiating role with social services on their behalf. All too frequently a personal adviser also plays the role of social worker, resulting in clear conflicts arising to the detriment of the young person.”