Family President extends suspension for public law childcare cases of requirement for sequential numbering of e-bundles

The President of the Family Division has extended the temporary suspension for public law proceedings of a requirement in guidance on electronic bundles he issued for all courts in November 2021 for sequential numbering of e-bundles.

In a memorandum issued on 18 February, Sir Andrew McFarlane said that the extension of the temporary suspension until 1 January 2023 “should afford sufficient time to local authorities to adjust their systems to adopt those standards”.

The November 2021 guidance at paragraph 2 says: “All pages in an e-bundle must be numbered by computer-generated numbering, not by hand. The numbering should start at page 1 for the first page of the bundle (whether or not that is part of an index) and the numbering must follow sequentially to the last page of the bundle, so that the pagination matches the pdf numbering. If a hard copy of the bundle is produced, the pagination must match the e-bundle.”

In supplementary guidance issued on 21 December 2021 at paragraph 4a the President announced that para 2 of the general guidance would be temporarily suspended in public law children proceedings.

“During the period of suspension further enquiries will be undertaken to examine the operational and resource consequences of the general guidance to local authorities and those representing respondents in public law proceedings. A working group comprising of representatives from the Judiciary, the FLBA and the ALC has been established to examine the issues and make recommendations,” the supplementary guidance said.

It added that in public law children cases the bundle should continue to be prepared in accordance with PD 27A para 4.2.

Confirming the extension of the temporary suspension in his 18 February 2022 memorandum the President said the working group referred to in paragraph 4(a) of the 21 December 2021 had undertaken considerable research with numerous local authorities as to the practical feasibility, and cost implications, of applying the general guidance of 29 November 2021 to public law care proceedings.

Sir Andrew said the clear recommendation of the working group was that the temporary suspension referred to in paragraphs 4(a) and 5(a) should be further extended.

Accepting that recommendation, the President said: “Public law care proceedings constitute a separate class of civil proceedings where considerable investment has been made by local authorities in software to produce bundles which conform with PD 27A para 4.2. I accept that it will take time for local authorities to make the necessary adjustments to enable them to have the software and resources to comply with the general guidance on electronic bundles.”

However, Sir Andrew said it was clear to him that public law children proceedings should, after a transitional period, have identical standards in the preparation of electronic bundles to other forms of family and civil proceedings.

“I therefore extend the temporary suspension until 1 January 2023. This should afford sufficient time to local authorities to adjust their systems to adopt those standards.”

The memorandum said that, from that date onwards, unless otherwise directed by the court, the general guidance on electronic bundles shall apply to public law children proceedings. The requirement in PD27A para 4.2 for each section to be separately paginated shall not be followed for an electronic bundle. Instead, sequential singular pagination of the entire bundle, corresponding to the PDF numbering, will be required.

The President added that “for the avoidance of any doubt, nothing in this memorandum affects paragraphs 2, 3, 4(c) -(e), 6, 7 and 8 of the supplementary guidance, which continues fully to apply.”