A shortage of expert witnesses is putting vulnerable children at risk, a social workers’ group has warned.
The Legal Aid Agency confirmed in April that fees for reports by independent social workers will remain at their 2013 rate of £33 per hour, in its ‘Guidance on the remuneration of expert witnesses’. By comparison, legal aid rates for ‘employment consultant’ experts are £54.40 per hour, while midwives and computer experts are paid £72 per hour.
Social worker experts provide independent opinions on the best interests of a child in high-stakes cases where the family court is deciding whether the child should be removed from his or her family, be fostered or adopted, or continue to have contact with their parent. The expert will not usually be paid for more than 30 hours work including reading all the evidence, conducting interviews with all significant parties and writing the report.
According to independent social workers’ organisation Nagalro, however, many experts spend considerably more than 30 hours on each case.
Nagalro chair Sukhchandan Kaur said: ‘Many of our members, who bring with them post-graduate qualifications and tens of years of front-line experience, are left feeling that the government does not value their skills, or the work which they can do, but is still happy to take advantage of their commitment to vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
‘An increasing number are taking the sad and reluctant decision that they can no longer afford to take on legal aid cases. Others say that they are not able to undertake a reliable assessment due to the limit on the number of hours.’
In November 2018, the president of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, told delegates at the Bond Solon Experts Conference that cases are being delayed because of a national shortage of experts willing to accept cases at the prescribed rates.
