Public Law Outline and Pre-Proceedings

What the Public Law Outline Is and Who It Affects

The Public Law Outline is the case management framework in Practice Direction 12A of the Family Procedure Rules. It sets out what a local authority must prepare before it applies for a care or supervision order, the order of the stages once an application is issued, and the latest timescales for each stage so that proceedings are resolved within 26 weeks. Pre-proceedings is everything before that application: the legal planning meeting, the letter before proceedings, the meeting it invites you to, and the period in which you can show that the concerns can be met without a court order. The Department for Education's statutory guidance on court orders and pre-proceedings applies in England.

Behind it sits section 31(2) of the Children Act 1989: a court may only make a care or supervision order if satisfied that the child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm attributable to the care given, or likely to be given if the order were not made, not being what it would be reasonable to expect a parent to give, or to the child being beyond parental control. The authority decides in principle at its legal planning meeting whether it believes that test is met.

The hearings that follow an application are on our care proceedings page and the orders on the care proceedings and social services hub. If social workers are involved but no letter has been sent, start with social services involvement.

The Letter Before Proceedings and the Meeting

Unless the authority considers that the level of risk requires an immediate application, the statutory guidance says it should send a letter before proceedings to parents and others with parental responsibility. It is the formal written notification that proceedings are likely, and should set out in simple language the authority's concerns, the support already provided, what you need to do and what support you will be given to avoid proceedings, with timescales, and how to obtain legal advice.

The letter invites you to a pre-proceedings meeting. There the authority should agree a revised plan for the child, confirmed in writing afterwards, setting out what you and the authority must each do and the timescales within which progress must be shown for proceedings to be avoided. The guidance recommends a review of the plan within six weeks of the meeting.

Since 15 July 2026, section 31ZA of the Children Act 1989 has required a local authority in England to offer a family group decision-making meeting to the child's parents or any other person with parental responsibility before it applies, and to include that offer in the letter before proceedings. If at least one person accepts, the meeting must be held before the application is made. The duty does not apply where the authority considers that offering or holding the meeting would not be in the child's best interests.

The meeting lets the child's family network discuss the child's welfare needs and make a proposal in response to the concerns. The child may attend where the authority considers it appropriate, and the authority must find out and give due consideration to the child's wishes and feelings so far as reasonably practicable.

Where the authority has instead decided that proceedings are necessary, it sends a letter of issue, telling you that proceedings are being started and that you should seek legal advice urgently.

Evidence and Common Problems

The pre-proceedings checklist in Practice Direction 12A lists what the authority must attach to its application: a social work chronology, a social work statement and genogram, the current assessments it relies on, a care plan and an index of checklist documents. Its decision-making records, including records of key discussions with the family and the letters before proceedings themselves, are to be disclosed on request by any party. The notes of your meetings are therefore evidence, and what you agree to in this period can be put before a court.

Problems we see at this stage:

• a letter that is vague about what needs to change, so progress cannot be measured or shown
• a plan agreed at the meeting that is never confirmed in writing, or that differs from what was discussed
• assessments that are out of date or were completed before support was put in place
• a family group decision-making offer made late, or with relatives who could care for the child left out
• domestic abuse, mental health or learning needs that affect how a parent takes part, with no adjustment offered
• parents attending without a solicitor and agreeing to expectations they cannot meet

Where abuse within the home is part of the concerns, our domestic abuse and injunctions team advises alongside the family work; if you are in immediate danger call 999, and the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is 0808 2000 247.

How the Pre-Proceedings Process Works

The sequence comes from the statutory guidance and Practice Direction 12A. Timing differs from case to case, and the authority can apply at any stage where it considers the section 31(2) threshold is met.

1. The authority holds a legal planning meeting with its lawyer, decides in principle whether the section 31(2) threshold is met, and chooses between a further period of support and an immediate application.
2. It sends a letter before proceedings setting out its concerns, what must change and by when, how to get legal advice and, since 15 July 2026, the offer of a family group decision-making meeting.
3. You instruct a solicitor. We read the letter and the social work records with you and prepare your written position and your questions.
4. You attend the pre-proceedings meeting with your solicitor. A revised plan is agreed and should be confirmed in writing, with the support, the expectations and the timescales set out.
5. If the offer is accepted, the family group decision-making meeting is held and the family network puts forward its own proposal for the child.
6. The authority reviews progress against the plan and decides whether to step back, continue the plan or issue.
7. If it issues, it files form C110A with the annex documents on day 1 and the court gives standard directions within a day.

The Court Timetable if Proceedings Are Issued

Once an application is issued, section 32 of the Children Act 1989 requires the court to draw up a timetable with a view to disposing of it without delay and in any event within 26 weeks beginning with the day it was issued. The court may extend that only if it considers the extension necessary to resolve the proceedings justly; extensions are not to be granted routinely, require specific justification, and each one ends no more than eight weeks after the period it extends.

On day 1 the authority files the application and annex documents and sends copies to Cafcass. Within a day of issue the court checks compliance with the pre-proceedings checklist, appoints a children's guardian to be allocated by Cafcass, directs the parents' response and lists the case management hearing, which is held not before day 12 and not later than day 18 after an advocates' meeting no later than two business days beforehand. Days are business days counted from issue. An issues resolution hearing follows as the court directs.

Where the authority wants immediate protection it can ask for an urgent contested interim care order hearing before the case management hearing, and nothing in the Practice Direction affects an application for an emergency protection order under section 44. The orders the court can make at the end are explained on our care orders and supervision orders pages.

When Legal Advice Is Especially Important

Advice matters most where:

• the letter before proceedings has arrived and the meeting is already fixed, so your response needs to be ready within days
• relatives who could care for the child need to be identified and put forward through the family group decision-making offer
• the concerns involve domestic abuse, substance use, mental health or a learning disability, where the plan must be realistic and adjustments may be needed
• a baby is expected and the authority has written before the birth, since the guidance says the letter should ideally be sent at or before 24 weeks of pregnancy
• a parent's immigration status is also in question, which our family immigration solicitors advise on separately

A parent, or a person with parental responsibility, does not have to pass a means test for legal aid once the authority has given notice that it is contemplating section 31 proceedings, and that funding covers advice, including at the meeting, and negotiation with the authority. If the authority then applies for a care or supervision order, representation in those proceedings is available on the same basis, with no means test, from a firm that holds a legal aid contract, and the authority should send a list of local specialist solicitors with the letter. RakLAW does not hold a legal aid contract and is privately funded, so our fees for family law page explains how we charge. The Family Rights Group runs a confidential advice line for parents on 0808 801 0366, Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 3pm.

How RakLAW Solicitors Can Help

We advise parents, relatives and family networks at the pre-proceedings stage from 42 Shad Thames in Southwark, a short walk from Tower Bridge. Our family team reads the letter with you, prepares your response and attends the meeting, and we tell you plainly where the concerns have substance.

If the case goes to court we act in the proceedings that follow. Where a relative may take on the child's care we advise on special guardianship and the other routes to parental responsibility, and where the authority has already held a child protection conference we start from the plan it made. Call 0203 345 2000 or book a free 15-minute consultation.