The inspectorate’s Right Time report into the experience of nine councils, found that factors in delays included repeated assessments of parents; assessments of other relatives starting too late in proceedings; and "insufficient capacity of local courts to meet demand".
Assessments of parents and family members added "months, or in some cases years, to the time it took to secure the new family that the child needed", inspectors found.
Across the 53 cases analysed by inspectors the average length of time for completion of proceedings was 14 months.
Inspectors also found a "lack of trust on the part of the courts in the quality of local authority social work assessments". This led courts to instead rely on independent experts, which caused further delays.
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