More than 1,300 applications made to National Deprivation of Liberty Court over course of one-year pilot
The national Deprivation of Liberty (DoLs) Court received a total of 1,389 applications in the 12 months since its launch in July 2022, according to the latest data collected by Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (NFJO).
On average, there have been 117 applications per month, with the highest number of applications issued in August 2022 (136 applications).
In the most recent month, June 2023, there were 98 applications.
The National DoLs Court was set up by the President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, to improve the process for considering applications for under 18’s to be deprived of their liberty under the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court.
The NFJO noted that in some cases, a ‘repeat’ application is issued for the same child – for example, to extend or vary an existing order. So far, there have been 147 repeat applications or cases that involve the same child.
“This means that a total of 1,249 children have been subject to DoL applications at the national DoLs court since 4 July”, the organisation revealed.
Looking at how the number of applications vary by region, the NFJO found that between July 2022 and July 2023, just over a fifth (21.2%) of all applications were made by local authorities in the North West of England, followed by 16.8% of applications from local authorities in London, and 11.8% from local authorities in the South East.
The data revealed that local authorities in the North East have made the fewest number of applications (3.9% of the total). The NFJO noted that this pattern of regional variation has “broadly remained the same” since July 2022.
It was found that the majority of children (59.4%) involved in applications were aged 15 and above, with a “small minority” relating to children under the age of 13 (9.2%), said the NFJO.
Lisa Harker, director at Nuffield FJO, said: “This data shows that over 1200 children have been deprived of their liberty in a year, an extraordinary increase in number compared with previous years. They include many highly vulnerable children who are being placed far away from home in unsuitable, unregistered accommodation, with their movements and contact with friends and family being severely restricted.
"We know from our previous research that there is no evidence that these are temporary fixes and children are living in circumstances that are likely to exacerbate their trauma because there is nowhere else for them to go.
"Action is desperately needed to develop local placements with care that can meet children’s needs and ensure meaningful change to their circumstances and health and wellbeing. It is essential that there continues to be monitoring of this situation and we are pleased that HMCTS [HM Courts and Tribunal Service] has confirmed it will start to collect and publish data about deprivation of liberty cases from July.”
The 12-month initial pilot phase of the national DoL court has now come to an end.
Outlining the next steps for the court in ‘A View from The President’s Chambers: July 2023’, the Family President revealed that the National Deprivation of Liberty (DoLs) pilot and the existing guidance in support of Ofsted were “in the process of being reviewed”.
Lottie Winson
