This study was commissioned in response to the need identified by the Family Justice Review (2011) for more information about the use of experts in local authority section 31 (Children Act 1989) applications to the family courts (commonly known as, and referred to in this report as, ‘care applications’) and the recommendations made by the Review and accepted by the Government (February 2012) regarding the control of expert evidence in family proceedings. The study builds upon the information collected as part of the Cafcass Care Application Study 2012 (referred to hereafter as ‘Care Application Study’), which collected Children’s Guardians (referred to hereafter as ‘Guardians’) views in relation to care applications made in November 2011 on areas including: the local authority’s pre-proceedings work; delay within the proceedings; factors underpinning the continuing rise in care applications.