What does it mean when you get a pre proceedings (‘PLO’) letter?

PLO stands for Public Law Outline and is a procedure that the Local Authority (social services) must follow if they have concerns about a parent’s ability to meet the needs of a child or effectively safeguard their child(ren). The aim is to try and intervene and help families before getting to the stage of making an application to the court. We can provide advice about this and try to explain what is happening at each stage to help you make the right decisions for you and your family.

The Purpose of the PLO Process

If the local authority concerns are serious enough, they will send out a ‘PLO Letter’, this can also be referred to as a ‘Letter before proceedings’ or ‘Pre-Proceedings letter’.  If you receive a letter like this, you must make contact with a solicitor straight away so they can advise you about Legal Aid availability and what happens next.

There will be a date and time for a meeting within the PLO letter, and you must let your social worker know that you can attend the meeting, and that you will bring a solicitor with you. 

The letter should clearly set out:

• A summary of what the local authority concerns are in language that is easy to understand;
• A summary of what support has already been provided to you and your family to assist;
• What you need to do, how you will be helped to do it and how quickly you have to get it done; and
• Information on how to obtain legal advice (usually a list of local solicitors is attached)

Once you receive such a letter you are entitled to free legal help which will include having a solicitor come to meetings with the local authority.

What Happens at a PLO Meeting?

At a PLO meeting there will usually be different people present:

• Social worker
• Team Manager
• Legal representative for the Local Authority

Sometimes support workers or other members of your family may be asked to attend as well, if they are a significant part of your children’s lives and offer a lot of support.  

The PLO process will normally take between 12-16 weeks, this will depend on the nature of the Local Authority’s concerns and how well you engage with the social care team.  If you do not engage it can make it much more difficult to resolve matters for your family and may lead to the local authority becoming so concerned they seek to issue an application at court.

The meeting itself will usually include an update from the social worker to make sure everyone is aware of any recent events or concerns, and then usually you will go through another document called the ‘Schedule of expectations’ (sometimes called a ‘Written Agreement’.) 

Ideally, you should have had the opportunity to go through any documents with your solicitor before the meeting, but if you haven’t – don’t panic - you will be given opportunity to talk to them before or during the meeting. 

The Schedule of Expectations

The schedule of expectations should set out clearly what is expected of you during this process and generally what the Local Authority will expect from you.  It may ask for you to take part in assessments, courses or different meetings.

You will be spoken to about each point of the schedule of expectations and the team manager / social worker will explain things as you go through.    

During the meeting if you need a break, you can ask for one especially if you want to discuss any matters with your solicitor.

There will be review meetings every 4-6 weeks, to look at how the process is progressing.    

You must try and remain calm, polite and attentive during the meetings, it is important that you understand what is being asked of you so that the PLO process can move forward and you can work with the social care team to ensure that your child’s needs are met and they are kept safe. 

Seeking Legal Advice

If you have received a pre proceedings letter, or if you want to discuss the PLO process in any more detail, please do not hesitate to get in touch with one of our childcare team specialists who will be happy to help.

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