Wolfe & Black practical guide
Section 47 Enquiry: Reviewing the Evidence Record
How to compare safeguarding conclusions with source records, chronology and disclosed information.
Updated September 2026
The useful starting point is not the volume of paperwork. It is the decision or issue, the evidence relevant to it, the chronology and the next decision-making stage.
Testing the evidential record
Obtain and preserve assessments, plans, correspondence and disclosed records relevant to the decision.
Compare significant conclusions with the underlying source records and identify omissions, contradictions or chronology errors.
Frame complaints around identifiable acts, decisions, evidence and resulting injustice rather than general dissatisfaction.
1. Identify exactly what is being challenged
Keep the original decision, order, report, notice or correspondence. Record its date, the decision-maker, the reasons given, every relevant deadline and the precise outcome you want. A difficult matter becomes easier to analyse when the disputed questions can be stated concisely.
2. Build an evidence-linked chronology
Create a dated sequence of material events and link each important event to its source document. The chronology is a navigation tool: a reader should be able to understand what happened, when it happened and where the supporting evidence can be found.
3. Separate evidence, allegation and inference
Mark what is proved by a contemporaneous record, what is alleged by a person or organisation and what is an inference, opinion or disputed conclusion. Then identify contradictory records, missing material and conclusions for which the supporting evidence is unclear.
4. Check the current framework
Identify the legislation, procedural rules, statutory guidance and published policy that actually apply to the particular decision. Use current authoritative material. A strong challenge connects the evidence to the applicable framework and the outcome sought.
5. Prepare for the next decision point
Work backwards from the next hearing, review, committee, complaint stage or decision. Identify what must be provided, what the decision-maker needs to understand and which documents best demonstrate each important point.
Children’s Services material may contain sensitive personal data and information about children or third parties. Disclosure does not create a right to publish it.
Questions to ask before proceeding
What is the exact decision? What deadline applies? Which facts are genuinely disputed? What documents prove the important facts? What framework governs the decision? What outcome are you asking for? What has already been tried? Those questions expose the gaps that need work.
Related guides
Challenging a Social Services Assessment
How to compare an assessment against the underlying records and identify factual errors, omissions and unsupported conclusions.
Read guide →Building Evidence for a Children’s Services Complaint
Turn correspondence, assessments and records into a structured complaint supported by a chronology and evidence schedule.
Read guide →Using Social Services Records in a Challenge
How disclosure and records can be organised to test the chronology and reasoning behind a public-body decision.
Read guide →Child in Need Plan: Evidence and Challenge Preparation
How to organise records, meetings, assessments and disputed recommendations when a Child in Need plan is being questioned.
Read guide →Wolfe & Black is not a firm of solicitors. We provide case preparation and non-reserved support. Reserved legal activities or representation are only undertaken where lawfully permitted. Nothing on this page guarantees that we can perform every procedural step in a particular matter.
Need this applied to your documents?
We can assess the material, organise the chronology and evidence, identify the issues and help prepare you for the next stage.