Vulnerable children are being ‘damaged’ by delays in care proceedings in England and Wales, according to the children’s charity Barnardo’s.  Barnardo's wants to see a 30-week limit after figures showed children waited an average of 57 weeks - sometimes in abusive homes - for county courts to make care or supervision orders.

Court data shows that at the end of 2009 there were 50 per cent more unresolved care proceedings cases than at the end of 2008. According to the The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) in England new applications account for less than half of this increase, indicating that the courts are taking longer to close a significant number of cases.

Press release