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171 J.P.N. 1 (2007)

handle is hein.journals/cljw171 and id is 1 raw text is: R (on the application of Stace) v. Milton Key, maogistrates' court. Road Transport -Passenger Carryin Vehicte Driver's Licence Road Traffic Act 1988, Pt. - considerations to be taken into account in deciding whethe ea fit person to hold PCV Driver's Licence - conduc so he taken into account. QBD. Page 1. IB r. Director of Public Prosecutions. Criminal law - anti ,ocial behaviour - designated area - whether police constable' irection to disperse constituted proportionate response. QBD Page 10. Hils v. Chief Constable of Essex. Anti-social behaviou rder - lawfulness of order - prohibition from carrying an -nife or bladed article in any public place prohibition fror sciating with a named person who was not also subject to _eciprocal term of non-association. QBD. Page 14. EDITORIAL PAYING THE PRICE I wish all our readers a very happy New Year, but I fear that many have begun 2007 feeling anything but happy or optimistic. The Carter changes to criminal legal aid, for example, will result in many legal practitioners either unable to continue in this line of work or becoming financially much worse off under the new contracts than before. However, this editorial is concerned with the family courts; in particular, their public law (ie, care proceedings) jurisdiction. Here, a major crisis is developing without, so far, any serious acknowledgment, let alone initiatives to tackle the problems at its root cause. What makes this all the more disappointing is that the relevant legal framework - the Children Act 1989 - is comparatively recent and generally very good, and it had new life and purpose breathed into it by the Human Rights Act 1998. So what has gone wrong? The 1989 Act explicitly requires expedition, but care proceedings are now taking up to one year to be determined. There appear to be two main causes for this. First, the volume of cases has increased con- siderably. This, in turn, seems to be due to two factors. There is much more pressure these days on local authorities to intervene, and it appears that there are simply more problem families in which the parents, often through no fault of their own, lack the insight and skills to cater for the needs of their children. Secondly, the proceedings have become elongated by the growing use of professional assessments, especially to determine parenting ability. While this may serve the needs of procedural fairness for the parents, which is undeniably very important, it prolongs the period of uncertainty for the children. It also imposes a huge strain on financial and human resources. The overall, average cost of a care case has now apparently risen to £25,000 (I take this figure from the letter by Anthony Kirk QC, Chairman of the Family Bar Association, published in The Times, December 30). While this may seem a substantial sum (especially where the outcome of the proceedings is inevitable, which is often the case in public law applications) it is, as Mr Kirk points out, relatively small to the cost of the state caring for a child throughout its minority. Moreover, children who have been damaged through abuse or neglect often cost the public substantial sums in other ways. There is overwhelming evidence that they are, for example, much more likely to commit crimes and, hence, impose a financial burden on the criminal justice system. They are also more likely to become bad parents themselves through lacking any internal model to guide them, resulting in the vicious cycle of their own children being taken into care. We are a wealthy country, but, when it comes to child protection investment seems to be driven more by emotion than by cost effectiveness. How many children, for example, has vetting actually protected? How many people on the sex offenders' register actually represent a danger to children? I suggest that these are areas that have seen little return for huge resources they have received. Yet they have been greatly expanded in recent years. Meanwhile, front-line services often have to operate on shoestring. Local authorities need extra funds to employ more social workers and specialist family lawyers. Independent suppliers - such as guardians and members of the Bar - have suffered real cuts in the rates paid for their work and are migrating to more lucrative areas of practice. Funding for assessment is inadequate, and this causes delays in proceedings. We lack sufficient court space and specialist Judges to manage the increased workload. Central planning has been poor and has not kept pace with need. This must change, and quickly. AJT Volume 171 JUSTICE fthe PEACE 1 °fthe

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