s in the hope of diverting from proceedings but also the opportunity for assessments and direct work to be completed in readiness for initiating proceedings if changes are not made. (Survey, Metropolitan, Yorkshire and Humber Region) Where durations were reduced, this was attributed to fewer in-court assessments, more collaborative work across the Local Family Justice Board and fewer final hearings. Other changes included refreshed social worker training on conducting assessments, and reduced reliance on residential family assessments and expert witnesses. Government reforms rooted in the Independent review of children’s social care (MacAlister, 2022) will see a greater emphasis on ‘family first’ working, with the intention to mandate the use of family-based decision-making before care proceedings can be initiated, and increased support and involvement of kinship networks.10 Just over a third (36%) of SP9 survey respondents said they had increased their use of family group decision-making at the pre-proceedings stage. One respondent commented on the multiple pilots and pathfinders raising challenges for the workforce. Another suggested that, rather than these multiple initiatives, there needs to be a system change within all areas of family justice to implement the proposed reforms. Half of survey respondents were either neutral or negative about the relaunch of the PLO, pointing to challenges outside of local authority control, most importantly delays in court listings and judicial availability. The experience of many was that despite improvements in pre-proceedings work, further assessments were still being requested within proceedings. 10 These reforms are currently being tested in pilot sites for Families First for Children, Family Network Support Packages and the D