(Court of Appeal, Sir J Munby P, 26 September 2013)
The mother applied for permission to appeal out of time in relation to care and placement orders of her two children. Permission was refused and the mother applied to the Court of Appeal. At the same time she filed a Form 62 request for transcripts at the public expense. Despite the matter being chased up a transcript was not made available for 3 months.
The mother's application was dismissed in the Court of Appeal but the President expressed his dismay that proceedings had been delayed unnecessarily and wrongly by unacceptable delays in obtaining transcripts. He made it clear that something had to be done to improve practice and performance in court offices.