The Guardians Ad Litem and Reporting Officers (Panels) (Amendment) Regulations 1997

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Guardians Ad Litem and Reporting Officers (Panels) Regulations 1991 (“the principal Regulations”). The main changes are as follows:

1.  Under new regulation 4A of the principal Regulations, where a local authority proposes not to reappoint a guardian ad litem or reporting officer to its panel at the end of their existing appointment, they are to be given notice of the reasons for that proposal and the opportunity to make representations. The membership of persons who are not reappointed may be extended to enable them to finsh work on their current case load (regulation 2(5)).

2.  New paragraphs (6) and (7) of regulation 5 of the principal Regulations allow local authorities to establish joint complaints boards to consider termination of the panel membership of a guardian ad litem or reporting officer who is a member of each of the authorities’ panels, if the authorities’ reasons for proposing to terminate membership are similar or related (regulation 2(6)).

3.  New paragraph (5) of regulation 6 of the principal Regulations applies where a guardian ad litem or reporting officer is a member of more than one panel and related complaints about him are made to more than one local authority. The authorities may in those circumstances agree to investigate the complaints jointly (regulation 2(7)).

4.  Under new regulation 6A of the principal Regulations, the courts are to be informed of serious complaints about panel members. The local authority may decide that the panel member concerned should not be made available for appointment in new cases until the complaint has been investigated (regulation 2(8)).

5.  The functions of the panel committee under regulation 8 of the principal Regulations are modified to enable the committee to advise on the handling of complaints about a panel member or the administration of the panel (regulation 2(9)).

6.  Regulation 9(2) of the principal Regulations is amended to clarify that local authorities may reimburse all guardians for expenses incurred in connection with their work, whether they are employed by the authority or self employed (regulation 2(10)).

7.  New regulation 13 of the principal Regulations makes a consequential modification to regulation 5(7) and Schedule 1, where local authority functions under those Regulations are contracted out to another person (regulation 2(11)).

8.  Schedules 1 and 2 to the principal Regulations are amended so that any justices’ clerk or deputy to a justices’ clerk may sit on a complaints board (regulation 2(12) and (13)).

9.  Regulation 3 makes certain transitional provision.

These Regulations impose no costs on business.