DOLS UPDATE 03/04/2023 1 Melanie Benn Fenners

Transcript:DOLS UPDATE 03/04/2023 1 Melanie Benn Fenners:
DOLS UPDATE 03/04/2023 1 Melanie Benn Fenners Chambers Launch of National Deprivation of Liberty (DoLs) Court at the Royal Courts of Justice – 4 July 2022 The National DoLs (Deprivation of Liberty) court launched on 4 July 2022. The court deals with applications seeking authorisation to deprive children of their liberty and is based at the Royal Courts of Justice under the leadership of Mr Justice Moor. From 4 July 2022, all new applications seeking these orders are issued in the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ). The new court is supported by two Family High Court/deputy high court judges each week and an administrative team based in the RCJ. Cases will either be retained for hearing within the National DoLs Court or will be returned to circuit, based on agreed criteria. 03/04/2023 2 HOW MANY APPLICATIONS HAVE THERE BEEN? Between July 2022 and February 2023, the national DoL court recorded a total of 903 applications. In some cases, a ‘repeat’ application is issued within the same case – for example, to extend an existing order or to vary the current order (e.g. if the child moves placement or additional restrictions on their liberty are sought). So far, there have been 54 ‘repeat’ applications. This means that a total of 854 children have been subject to DoL applications at the national DoL court since 4 July (including a very small number of applications for sibling groups). https://www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/resource/national-deprivation-of-liberty-court-latest-data-trends-february-2023 03/04/2023 3 03/04/2023 4 On average, there have been 113 applications per month, with the highest number of applications issued in August (131 applications). In the most recent month, February 2023, there were 106 applications. The applications were made by 143 different local authorities and 13 hospital or mental health trusts. Those issued by hospital trusts are usually to authorise restrictions of children’s liberty in hospital when the child may not be in the care of the local authority, or where the local authority is also a party in the case Between July 2022 and February 2023, just over a fifth (21.8%) of all applications were made by local authorities in the North West of England, followed by 16.6% of applications from local authorities in London. Local authorities in the North East have made the fewest number of applications (3.8% of the total). This pattern of regional variation has broadly remained the same since July. 03/04/2023 5 The majority of children (58.9%) involved in