New rules for appointing guardians in care proceedings were introduced in London this week, in a bid to reduce ‘appalling’ delays which family solicitors have warned are ‘worse than ever’.

Christina Blacklaws, chairwoman of the Law Society’s family law committee, said solicitors were ‘hopeful’ that the new procedures would address ‘major problems’ affecting child care cases in the capital.

Blacklaws said there are more than 500 cases on the waiting list for guardians in London, with some cases issued in November still without a guardian. Guardians advise on the welfare of children in care proceedings, for example in respect of whether a child should be removed from their home.

Figures released last month by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) showed that applications to put children into care remain at record levels as a result of the Baby P tragedy last year. Figures for the 12 months to 31 March 2010 show that applications across the country increased by more than a third on the previous year, to 2,188 cases. March saw the highest number of care applications ever recorded in a single month, with 832.

John Altman, designated family judge for London, has issued new rules on the appointment of guardians in the capital, which took effect this week. They have replaced the duty guardian scheme introduced last July by the then president of the Family Division Sir Mark Potter in an attempt to reduce delays.

Instead of a duty guardian, children in the London area will now be appointed a named Cafcass guardian at the outset of the case. The named guardian will deal with the case up until the case management (CMC) hearing. However, after the CMC, the guardian will only conduct further work on a case ‘from time to time’, where necessary. The new rules will run at least until 30 September, when they will be reviewed.

Blacklaws said: ‘The duty guardian system was not working in practice at all. Children’s solicitors were just doing the work themselves – albeit for a fixed fee. Now, there will be no guardian from the CMC stage, but at least we will have a proper guardian at the outset, who has helped to formulate the case and the direction of travel.’

She added: ‘We need 100 new guardians, but there is no conjuring them up… We are tremendously hopeful that this will work.’

However, Blacklaws warned that the new approach will only work if solicitors are disciplined in not seeking a guardian’s advice on issues that arise after the CMC unless absolutely necessary. ‘The danger is that it is a big culture change for solicitors,’ she said.

Nina Hansen, partner at London firm Freemans, said there are ‘appalling’ delays in appointing guardians in London; in one recent case a guardian was not appointed until the last day of a final hearing. Hansen added that the new rule would avoid the situation where duty guardians give conflicting advice on whether to remove a child.

A Cafcass spokesman said it welcomed the constructive dialogue that had shaped the guidance, adding: ‘The sheer numbers of cases going through the courts in London mean that these take longer to conclude and use up more resources than anywhere else in the country.’