HHJ Altman, designated Family Judge for London, has issued revised guidance on the instruction of expert witnesses in family cases where their fees exceed the new limits proposed by the Legal Services Commission. The document can be downloaded from here.
Many independent social workers have been refusing to accept work at the severely reduced LSC rates, which is affecting the provision of expert advice to courts from some of the most experienced and well-respected ISWs in complex family cases. This CareSpace article by Phil King from ISWA questions why social work expertise is valued so much less than that of other professions.
The knock-on effect for children may well be that the wrong and sometimes unsafe decisions are made about their future when a rigorous, expert social work analysis is absent. Some cases will take longer to resolve as clear, reliable advice about the best options is not available. Where less experienced workers are used it can result in greater cost because the work takes longer to complete and an inadequate assessment will need to be repeated.
Nagalro's response when these cuts were first proposed can be read here