How to write a court report

Advice from a Community Care Inform guide on writing clear and concise court reports, including guidance on completing the social work evidence template

By Gillian MacFarlane on June 4, 2024 in Children, Inform Children

Photo: ewapee/ Adobe Stock

This article presents a few key pieces of advice from Community Care Inform Children’s guide on writing court reports. The full guide provides prompts and key questions to consider when writing a court statement and gives tips on writing clearly and analytically. It also provides completed examples of each section of the social work evidence template. Community Care Inform Children subscribers can access the full guide here.

The guide was written by David Wilkins, programme director for the MA in social work at Cardiff University.

The aim and purpose of court reports

The primary aim of a court report should always be to advise the court on how best to help the child.

The first step is to identify the purpose of the report – for example, making recommendations about family contact arrangements, seeking care orders, or putting forward adoption as the best plan for a child.

It is important to apply an analytical approach to the report; making sure the recommendations are comprehensive, clear and concise.

When writing your statement, you need to consider the audience. Formally, you are writing a report for the court, but your statement will also be read by the other parties involved (frequently, parents, and, in some instances, the child).

The statement should:

identify the issue or issues to be resolved;
limit the need for cross-examination (because you will have already addressed the most important questions).

Refer to research evidence and academic theory within the statement when this would aid your analysis. You should be able to explain what the research or theory means in your own words and how it applies to the child or family.

Always include references to credible sources if referencing research or an academic theory.

Practice point

Consider all of the possible audiences that could read the report. Use respectful language and highlight the positives as well as the concerns. You should demonstrate that you have sought to help and support the family and outline how you have considered their views before making your recommendations.

Key sections of a court statement

The following is from the social work evidence template (SWET), developed by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services and Cafcass. There is no single ‘way’ to complete a court statement, although many good statements will contain similar features.

The social work evidence template contains eight substantive sections:

Which orders are being sought and why? Explain why they are necessary to safeguard the child, and ‘why now’. Include a summary of work undertaken with the family so far, and why this is no longer sufficient to keep the child safe.
Family network. Include details of the child, family members and other people with whom the child has significant relationships (eg close family friends).
Child impact analysis. Reference the welfare checklist, and describe and analyse the child’s day-to-day experiences, needs, wishes and feelings, and risk and protective factors. Include an analysis of harm and the risk of future harm as well.
Parenting capability. Demonstrate an analysis of each parent’s capability to meet the child’s needs. This should include the ways that the parent has met the child’s needs in the past, along with evidence that they have not or cannot meet the child’s needs now or in the future, and how these gaps could be addressed (or why they cannot be). Outline what support you think is needed and how this could or should be provided.
Wider family capability. In this section, you should show that you have made every reasonable effort to identify and explore alternative care options for the child, with reference to all the adults mentioned in section two. Explain how wider family and friends have been identified as potential carers, including a summary of anyone who has been ruled out and why. Include the outcome of any completed viability assessments as well.
The proposed (interim) care plan and analysis of the realistic option. In this part of the statement, you should explain your proposed care plan for the child. Depending on local policies and procedures, you may need to submit a separate care plan document. To aid the court, you need to identify one preferred option, while also showing you have considered other options. Using this kind of ‘balance sheet’ approach is in accordance with prominent case law (Re B (A Child) [2013] UKSC 33 and Re B-S (Children) [2013] EWCA Civ 1146).
Plan for family time (‘contact’). Local authorities have legal duties to allow children to have ‘reasonable’ contact with parents and any other guardians or anyone with parental responsibility, and people that the child may have lived with previously under a residence order or High Court order. This section should also consider contact plans with siblings where appropriate.
Social work chronology. You will need to produce a chronology that covers the previous two years. The primary requirement is a list of significant events. ‘Significant events’ will vary depending on each family and child. It is helpful to ask yourself, ‘How does this add to the court’s understanding of the child and family?’, before identifying events within the chronology.

The full guide on writing court reports includes more information on what to include and how to write clearly and analytically, and provides completed examples of each section of the social work evidence template. If you have a Community Care Inform Children licence, log on to read the full guide.