Title, commencement, interpretation and application

1.—(1) The title of these Regulations is the Integrated Family Support Teams (Review of Cases) (Wales) Regulations 2012 and they come into force on 28 February 2012.

(2) In these Regulations—

“the 2010 Measure” (“Mesur 2010”) means the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010;

“a case” (“achos”) means a case that is reviewed by an IFS team in accordance with these Regulations;

“a family” (“teulu”) means a family which has been referred by a local authority to its IFS team and whose members have been notified that they will be supported by the team;

“IFS team” (“tîm integredig cymorth i deuluoedd”) means an integrated family support team established by a local authority with the participation of a local health board in accordance with section 57 of the 2010 Measure;

“the Review Regulations” (“y Rheoliadau Adolygu”) means the Review of Children’s Cases (Wales) Regulations 2007(3).

(3) These Regulations apply in relation to those areas of Wales in relation to which section 57 (establishment of family support teams) of the 2010 Measure has been commenced(4).

Duty to review cases

2.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) and (3), a local authority must review the case of each family in accordance with these Regulations, for as long as the family is being supported by its IFS team.

(2) Where an IFS team is established jointly by more than one local authority, then the duty in paragraph (1) applies to the local authority in whose area the child lives and any temporary arrangements for the child to live outside the local authority area are to be disregarded for this purpose.

(3) The duty in paragraph (1) of this regulation does not apply in relation to the case of a family where one or more of the children in the family is being looked after or is being provided with accommodation by the local authority and that child’s case is (or those children’s cases are) subject to review under the Review Regulations.

Time when each case is to be reviewed

3.—(1) Each case must first be reviewed within four weeks of the date on which the family are notified that their case will be supported by the IFS team.

(2) A second review of the case must be carried out no more than three months after the first and thereafter subsequent reviews must be carried out no more than six months after the date of the previous review.

(3) Nothing in this regulation prevents a local authority from reviewing the case before the times specified in paragraph (1) or (2).

Manner in which cases are to be reviewed

4.—(1) A local authority must set out in writing how the case of each family is to be reviewed and must make this available to the persons specified in regulation 6(1).

(2) A local authority whose IFS team is supporting a family must make arrangements to co-ordinate the carrying out of all aspects of the review.

(3) A local authority must appoint one of its officers to co-ordinate all the aspects of the review.

(4) The matters to be dealt with in each review must, so far as practicable, include the elements specified in Schedule 1.

(5) Nothing in these Regulations prevents the carrying out of any review under these Regulations and any other review, assessment or consideration under any other provision at the same time.

Considerations to which local authorities are to have regard

5.  The considerations to which, so far as is reasonably practicable, a local authority must have regard in reviewing each case are the general considerations specified in Schedule 2.

Consultation, participation and notification

6.—(1) Before conducting any review a local authority must, unless it is not reasonably practicable to do so, seek and take into account the views of—

(a)the children of the family;

(b)the parents;

(c)any person who is not a parent of the child but who has parental responsibility for that child;

(d)members of the IFS team; and

(e)any other person whose views the authority consider to be relevant;

in particular in relation to the matters which are to be dealt with in the course of the review.

(2) A local authority must so far as is reasonably practicable involve the persons whose views are sought under paragraph (1) in the review and, where the authority consider appropriate, invite them to attend all or part of it.

(3) A local authority must, so far as is reasonably practicable, make known the outcome of the review and of any decision taken by it in consequence of the review to—

(a)the children of the family;

(b)the parents;

(c)any person who is not a parent of the child but who has parental responsibility that child;

(d)the IFS team; and

(e)any other person whom the authority considers ought to be notified.

Arrangements for implementation of decisions arising from reviews

7.  A local authority must take all reasonable steps to implement any decision which it takes in consequence of a review, whether by making arrangements itself or by making arrangements with a local health board or with any other person.

Recording review information

8.  A local authority must make a written record of—

(a)information obtained for the purposes of a review;

(b)any meeting arranged by the authority in anticipation or in consequence of any aspect of the review of that case; and

(c)details of the outcome of the review and any decisions made by the authority in consequence of the review.

Revocation and modification

9.—(1) Regulations 1 to 8 of the Integrated Family Support Teams (Review of Cases) (Wales) Regulations 2010(5) are revoked.

(2) The amendments to the Review Regulations made by regulation 9 of the Integrated Family Support Teams (Review of Cases) (Wales) Regulations 2010 apply to the remaining parts of Wales(6).

SCHEDULES

Regulation 4(4)

SCHEDULE 1Matters to be dealt with in case review

1.  Any change of circumstances of any children or adults in the family.

2.  The effectiveness of the plan to address the needs of the child, whether in relation to health needs or social, emotional or behavioural needs.

3.  The effectiveness of plans to address the needs of adults whether in relation to health needs or social care needs.

4.  The views of the adults and children in the family.

5.  Whether the plans for the child(ren) or adult(s) should be adapted to better support each other.

Regulation 5

SCHEDULE 2Considerations to which local authorities are to have regard

PART 1The Child

1.  Any change in the legal status of the child.

2.  Any risks to the child.

3.  Whether the current arrangements for the care of the child are satisfactory.

4.  The child’s developmental progress and whether there is a need for the child to be the subject of any further assessment in relation to health, social, emotional, behavioural or educational needs.

PART 2The Family

5.  Any changes in the family circumstances since the last review.

6.  Any significant events outside the family which are relevant including the implementation of actions from previous reviews.

7.  Any change to the parenting capacity of the parents as a result of health or social care services provided or as a result of other factors.

8.  Any difficulties that the family may have had in engaging with the IFS team.

9.  Whether there is any conflict between the needs of the child and the needs of the adults and how this can be resolved.

10.  The need to prepare for the ending of the involvement of the IFS team.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations establish requirements about how local authorities must review the cases of the families who are supported by Integrated Family Support (“IFS”) teams. The requirements for a local authority to review a case do not apply in relation to a child whose case is already subject to review under the Review of Children’s Cases (Wales) Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/307 (W.26)) (“the Review Regulations”) by virtue of being “looked after” as defined in section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989.

Section 57 of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 imposes a duty on local authorities to establish one or more IFS teams. These Regulations apply to local authority areas in relation to which section 57 has been commenced and which have a duty to establish an IFS team. On the date these Regulations are brought onto force section 57 is in force in relation to the following local authority areas: Merthyr Tydfil, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Wrexham, Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan (see the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 (Commencement) Order 2010 and the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 (Commencement No. 4) Order 2012).

Regulation 2 requires a local authority to review the cases of families whose cases are supported by an IFS team but excepts cases of looked after children.

Regulation 3 sets out when a case must first be reviewed and at what intervals subsequent reviews must take place. Regulation 4 requires a local authority to set out in writing its arrangements for reviewing cases and requires that the local authority coordinates the review. The matters to be dealt with in the review are dealt with in Schedule 1.

Regulation 5 and Schedule 2 set out all the matters that a local authority must take into account in reviewing cases. Regulation 6 sets out the requirements about who must be consulted before a review, who must participate in it and who should be notified afterwards.

Regulation 7 creates a duty for a local authority to implement the decisions taken at a review. Regulation 8 requires that information provided for a review, together with minutes, and any decisions of a review, are recorded in writing.

Regulation 9 revokes regulations 1 to 8 of the Integrated Family Support Teams (Review of Cases) (Wales) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/1700 (W.161)) (“the 2010 Regulations”). Regulation 9 of the 2010 Regulations, which makes amendments to the Review Regulations, is preserved. The amendments originally applied to the following local authority areas: Merthyr Tydfil, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taff and Wrexham. Regulation 9(2) of these Regulations provides that the amendments made by the 2010 Regulations apply to the remaining parts of Wales.

The Welsh Ministers' Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, a regulatory impact assessment has been prepared as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations. A copy can be obtained from the Directorate of Health, Social Services and Children, Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ.