11.10 Exclusion of Family Members from a Conference

Exceptionally it may be necessary to exclude one or more family members from part or all of a conference. These situations will be rare, and the Conference Chair must be notified by the social worker, or a worker from any agency, if they believe based on the criteria below, that a parent should be excluded. This representation must be made as soon as possible and at least three working days in advance of the conference.

The worker concerned must indicate which of the grounds they believe are met and the information, or evidence, the request is based on. The Chair must consider the representation carefully and may need legal advice.

The Chair should make a decision in response to:

• Indications that the presence of the parent or family member might seriously prejudice the welfare of the child;
• Sufficient evidence that a parent or family member may behave in such a way as to interfere seriously with the work of the conference e.g. violence, threats of violence, racist discriminatory or oppressive behaviour, or being in an unfit state through drug, alcohol consumption or acute mental health difficulty. In their absence a friend or advocate may represent them at the conference;
• A child asking that a parent, family member, person with Parental Responsibility or carer are not present while they are present;
• The likelihood that the presence of a parents or family member would prevent a participant from making their proper contribution;
• The need for members to receive confidential information that would otherwise be unavailable, such as legal advice or information about a criminal investigation;
• Potential conflicts between different family members indicating that they should attend at separate times e.g. in situations of domestic abuse

If it becomes clear to the Chair that there may be conflict of interests between the children and parents or other family members, the conference should be planned so that the welfare of the child can remain paramount. This may mean arranging for the child and parents or other family members to participate in separate parts of the Conference and for separate waiting arrangements to be made. Any exclusion period should be for the minimum duration necessary and must be clearly recorded in the Conference Record.

It may also become clear at the beginning or in the course of a Conference, that its effectiveness will be seriously impaired by the presence of a parent or family member. In these circumstances, the Chair may ask them to leave.

Where a parent or family member is on bail, or subject to an active police investigation, it is the responsibility of the Chair to ensure that the police can fully present their information and views and also that the parents or family members participate as fully as circumstances allow. This may involve the Chair and police having a confidential meeting prior to the conference to agree a way of managing the process and the information.

The decision of the Chair over matters of exclusion is final regarding parents, family members and children

If the Chair has decided, prior to the conference, to exclude or limit attendance by a parent or family member, this must be communicated to that person prior to Conference, ideally in writing. The social worker should have prepared the parent for the possibility that this may occur.

The parent or family member must be informed about how to make their views known, how they will be told the outcome of the conference and about the Complaints by Service Users Procedure. The parent or family member should be advised of the options for contributing to the Conference.

Those excluded should be provided with a copy of the social worker's report to the conference, with sensitive information redacted if necessary, (three working days before an Initial Conference and five working days before a Review Conference) and the social worker should provide them with the opportunity to have their views recorded and presented to the Conference.

If a decision to exclude a parent is made, this must be fully recorded in the Conference Record. Exclusion from one Conference is not necessarily a reason for exclusion from a further Conference.