The family justice system is under huge strain after a decade of budget cuts, greatly increased pressures of work and falling morale amongst the workforce. This has left many who work within it feeling powerless. Responding to that perceived problem, for the past year, practitioners in Sussex have been meeting with a view to identifying what is best practice in the family justice system and how individuals can work together to bring about practical change through their daily work.

The group is the initiative of social workers, lawyers and experts who have adopted the concept of a Quality Circle as best describing what they want to achieve.  This initiative was launched in the November 2017 and over the course of the past year has evolved from being a discussion group to one being more orientated towards effecting change.

The group meets approximately every other month at venues in each of the Local Authority areas in Sussex. The meetings are generally dedicated to one topic such as, “the voice of the child.” After experimenting with a variety of formats, the group settled on an arrangement whereby seating is in the round (so as to promote a genuine exchange of views), Power Point presentations are barred, the duration of meetings capped at 75 minutes and, discussion papers generally restricted to two sides of A4 on the principle that the participants’ time is at a premium.

A good example of the group’s approach was a session on “Creating a Culture of Respect” arranged  to discuss an article by “Surviving Safeguarding” in Community Care entitled ‘Divisive, demeaning and devoid of feeling: How SW jargon causes problems for families.’ With the assistance of Andrew Pack (the blogger Suesspiciousminds) the group crafted a proposal: for the simplification of language in court; to make proceedings more inclusive; and to engender a culture whereby criticism is delivered, so far as possible, in a constructive way. Consultation has now started on creating a manifesto which will be adopted by all professionals involved in the court system in Sussex.

The meetings are attended by social workers, Children’s Guardians, ISWs, academics, solicitors, barristers and judges who work in the area and are joined by local psychologists and psychiatrists and, on occasion, by representatives of the Police. Meetings are as inclusive as possible.

The style of the meetings was influenced by what has been achieved by Lucy Reed and others in the Transparency Project in getting people representing disparate parts of the family justice system to meet together in a spirit of inquiry.

The group has been privileged to be assisted by Professor Michelle Lefevre, Professor of Social Work at the University of Sussex. This has been critical as it is obviously essential that if practitioners are to identify what is best practice, they must have access to the latest research as well as the skills to interpret it. There has been communication with the Nuffield Observatory and discussions are underway with a view to devising a way in which they can work with the Quality Circle to disseminate the lessons of research as well as assist some studies of the group’s own – all with an eye to establishing, what works?

The Sussex Family Justice Board has been very receptive to proposals by the group and in turn, it has happily adopted an identity as the Sussex FJB Quality Circle and works under their auspices.

The group has been resolutely non-hierarchical with much of the organisation undertaken by a barrister, Martin Downs and the Principal Social Worker of East Sussex, Nicola McGeown alongside the PSWs and their equivalents from the other Local Authorities with the assistance of some Children’s Guardians, solicitors and barristers who work in the area

The group is now feeling well enough established to organise a programme for the next twelve months ahead and it is envisaged that this will include work with Resolution on problems in private law.

The next meeting in on Monday 14th January 2019 at 5.15 for a 5.30 start at the Offices of East Sussex County Council in Lewes on, “26 weeks- the Statutory requirement.

We will be joined for discussion by HHJ Bedford (Designated Family Judge for Sussex) and HHJ de Haas QC (Designated Family Judge for Liverpool via video link). This will be chaired by Adam Smith (co-chair of Sussex FJB)

To attend that meeting, be added to the mailing list or to find out more, please email: James.Hart@1cor.com

In April 2019, the Quality Circle launched their website, which you can find here: www.sussexfamilyjusticeboard.org.uk