1. Can you please clarify if parents are allowed to have advocates with them at Local Authority child protection case conferences and other related social services meetings? If the answer is no why not?
Yes parents can bring a supporter or an advocate to support them. The Child Protection Procedures provide guidance on this Child Protection Conferences (proceduresonline.com) and there is a section on involving families in meetings. The main principles are set out below.
• Parents must be invited and encouraged to participate in the process and where appropriate attend child protection meetings, unless it is likely to prejudice the welfare of the child;
• Parents should be supported to enable them to participate by timely preparation and information, such as leaflets, being provided about the process and their role;
• Advocates should be facilitated to support parents

2. Your own Local Authority safeguarding children policy states that you allow parents to have advocates in with them at child protection case conferences so why in many cases is this policy being breached?
Childrens Services have advised this is not something that I can provide information about as you have not provided any examples or context. If a user of our service has a complaint about how the policy is being applied this should be directed to the complaints process. ChildrensServicesComplaints@wokingham.gov.uk

3. Is it the policy of the Local Authority to allow Gillick competent children into these meetings with an advocate? If the answer is no why not?
The overarching principle is that in Child Protection conferences in Wokingham are committed to hear the voice of the child either directly or via an advocate and we have an item early in the agenda for the Child’s Voice. The decisions about the attendance of children in case conferences is made on a case by case basis and the procedures have moved away from using the term Gillick competent but the criteria for involving a child is set out below. The social worker requests the conference and speaks to the children, the parents during the assessment and then discusses this with the Chair and advises the Conference administrators if the child should be invited. The decision to directly involve children has to consider a number of factors and the procedures describe it as;
• The child, subject to their level of understanding, needs to be given the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the conference.
• In practice, the appropriateness of including an individual child must be assessed in advance and relevant arrangements made to facilitate attendance at all or part of the conference.
• Where it is assessed, in accordance with the criteria below, that it would be inappropriate for the child to attend, alternative arrangements should be made to ensure their wishes and feelings are made clear to all relevant parties (e.g. use of an advocate, written or taped comments).
Criteria for presence of child at conference, including direct involvement
• The primary questions to be addressed are:
• Does the child have sufficient capacity for understanding the process?
• Have they expressed an explicit or implicit wish to be involved?
• What are the parent's/carer's views about the child's proposed presence?
• Is inclusion assessed to be of benefit to the child?
• The test of 'sufficient capacity to understand' is partly a function of age and partly the child's capacity to understand which may be effected by other factors including the impact of trauma. The following approach is recommended:
• A (rebuttable) presumption that a child of less than twelve years of age is unlikely to be able to be a direct and/or full participant in a forum such as a Child Protection Conference;
• A presumption (also rebuttable by evidence to the contrary) that from the age of twelve and over, a child should be offered such an opportunity.
• A declared wish not to attend a conference (having been given such an explanation) must be respected.
• Consideration should be given to the views of and impact on parent/s of their child's proposed attendance.
• The potential impact of the conference on the child (e.g. if they have a significant learning difficulty or where it will be impossible to ensure they are kept apart from a parent who may be hostile and / or attribute responsibility onto them) must also be taken into account and steps taken to minimise any negative effects. Consideration must be given in particular to the extent to which it is appropriate for a child to hear details of a parent's personal difficulties and a parent's view about this must be respected.
• In such cases, energy and resources should be directed toward ensuring that, by means of an advocate and / or preparatory work by a social worker, the child's wishes and feelings are effectively represented.
Direct involvement of a child in a conference
In advance of the conference, the Chair and social worker should agree whether:
• The child attends for all or part of the conference, taking into account confidentiality or parents and / or siblings;
• The child should be present with one or more of their parents;
• The Chair meets the child alone, or with a parent prior to the meeting.
If a child attends all or part of the conference, it is essential that they are supported by the social worker or independent advocate who can help them prepare a report, or rehearse any particular points that the child wishes to make.
Provision should be made to ensure that a child who has any form of disability is enabled to participate.
Consideration should be given to enabling the child to be accompanied by a supporter or an advocate.
Indirect contributions when a child is not attending
Indirect contributions from a child should, whenever possible, include a pre-meeting with the Conference Chair.
Other indirect methods include written statements, e-mails, text messages and taped comments prepared alone or with independent support, and representation via an advocate.
Childcare professionals should all be able to represent a child's views and a particular responsibility falls upon the social worker to do so.
It is more important that the child feels involved in the whole process of child protection assessment rather than merely receiving an invitation to the conference.

4. Are Gillick competent children sent an invitation to attend child protection case conferences and other social services related meetings as a matter of normality? If the answer is no why not?
Please see above answer, it is decided on a case by case basis based on the principles above.

5. Would the LA arrange a child advocate to attend child protection case conferences with Gillick competent children?
We have a Children’s Advocate who is involved at the request of the social worker or the child or parent. She will either support the child to participate or attend and speak on their behalf. This is a service which is flexible and based on the needs and wishes of the child.