A permanent team
The work is delivered by practitioners employed by the practice, under our own systems, supervision and governance, not sourced from an associate or referral panel case by case.
GET TO KNOW NELLIE
A person.
Not a case number.
Nellie Supports is a specialist private social work practice. Our mental capacity and social-care work covers England and Wales; our CHC and EHCP services support clients in England. This section explains who carries out the work, professional registration, report review and the practice facts behind our published claims.
- Founded
- 2019, head office in Grantham
- Team
- Employed multidisciplinary practitioners, social work led
- Registration
- Individual social-worker registration with the relevant national regulator
- Quality
- Peer review by a second qualified professional on every report
An employed multidisciplinary private social work practice, with registered social workers, specialist colleagues and peer review of every report.
Nellie Supports is England and Wales' largest identified specialist private social work and mental capacity assessment practice, with more than 11,000 assessments completed. We assess mental capacity, prepare evidence for the Court of Protection and other courts, and plan and review care across England and Wales. Our NHS Continuing Healthcare and EHCP/SEND support concerns England.
Every practitioner is employed by the practice rather than drawn from an associate or referral panel. Social workers are registered with Social Work England or Social Care Wales, supervision is internal, and every report is reviewed by a second qualified professional before it is delivered.
More than 11,000 assessments have been completed by the practice. The team biographies describe individual experience across social work, mental capacity, safeguarding, care planning and specialist assessment. Mental capacity and social-care services cover England and Wales; CHC and EHCP support concerns England.
Read the evidence behind our scaleHOW WE PRACTISE
Independent minds.
A shared standard of care.
We are instructed by families, deputies, attorneys, solicitors, local authorities and the courts, and we reach the conclusion the evidence supports. An instruction buys an independent opinion, never a particular answer, and we will say so plainly when the evidence does not go the way the instructing party hoped.
Specialist experience
Experience spans decision-specific mental capacity assessment, COP3 and Court of Protection evidence, social-care assessment, NHS Continuing Healthcare and EHCP advocacy. The professional and national framework depends on the service and the question being addressed.
Clear professional standards
Reports are structured, evidence-led, and reviewed by a second qualified professional before they leave the practice.
Transparent pricing
Fees are published and the proposed work and fee are confirmed in writing before instruction. Check what is included, any VAT or travel charges, and how a change of scope or additional work would affect the price.
Clear professional boundaries
We are a specialist private social work and mental capacity assessment practice. We are not a law firm, and where a legal remedy is needed we say so.
Our practice, scale and evidence in detail
England and Wales' largest identified specialist private social work and mental capacity assessment practice, with Over 11,000 completed assessments.
England and Wales' largest identified specialist private social work and mental capacity assessment practice.
A permanent full-time multidisciplinary team, not an ad hoc associate or referral panel.
Completed assessments across England and Wales.
Every report is reviewed by a second qualified professional before delivery.
Social workers registered with Social Work England or Social Care Wales, according to the relevant role and jurisdiction, with a Chartered Psychologist (BPS) in the team.
Reports relied on in the Court of Protection, the Family Court and the Court of Appeal.
An independent opinion with no stake in the outcome.
Six pages covering who we are, how we practise, and the evidence behind the claims we make.
These pages introduce the practitioners and colleagues delivering the work and explain their roles, registration and supervision. They also describe Little Nellies, the SEND and EHCP service provided by Nellie Supports Ltd for families in England, within the wider practice’s professional and quality-assurance arrangements.
Independent does not mean unregulated, and private does not mean a lighter standard. These two pages set out what private social work actually is in England and Wales, who governs it, and the framework our reports are written to when they are going in front of a court. If you are instructing an expert and want to know what to check before you do, the professional standards page is written for exactly that.
These pages describe the employed team, the assessment-volume figure and the qualified scale statement, alongside clients’ accounts of their experience. Practice size, delivery arrangements and individual feedback provide different kinds of information; the proposed practitioner and scope still need to fit the instruction.
What private social work is in England and Wales, professional registration, statutory responsibilities and the questions to ask before commissioning independent assessment or support.
Registration, internal supervision, report peer review and the rules relevant to the intended use of expert evidence. The page also sets out questions to ask a professional before instruction.
The employed team, national delivery arrangements, assessment experience and the scope and limits of the qualified largest-identified statement.
What families, solicitors, deputies and case managers say about the work in their own words, alongside the verifiable signals behind the claims made elsewhere on this site.
Our published total refers to completed assessments recorded in our internal sales records, rather than adding reports to assessments. The existing confirmed figure is over 11,000. It is a cumulative company figure, not a count of unique people or a published outcome rate.
HOW WE WORK
Less uncertainty.
One step at a time.
An instruction starts with an agreed scope, fee and timescale. The work is matched to the relevant expertise and service requirements. Every report is peer reviewed before delivery; assessment, meeting attendance, advocacy and report preparation have different practical arrangements.
The agreed task determines the records, professional input and written output required.
Enquiry
Tell us who the person is, what has happened and any dates involved. Our client liaison team identifies the right service.
Scope confirmed in writing
The service, the fee and the timescale are confirmed in writing before any work starts.
The work
A practitioner with the relevant expertise carries out the agreed assessment, meeting work, advocacy or report preparation.
Peer review
A second qualified professional reviews every report for reasoning, evidence and compliance before it leaves the practice.
Delivery and follow-up
The report or evidence is delivered securely, with clarification for instructing parties if it is needed.
Before you instruct us
Identify the person, the question to be answered, the relevant nation and any deadline. Confirm who will carry out the work, the report or other deliverable, necessary records, timing and full fee. Ask how clarification or additional work will be handled.
ONE PRACTICE. SHARED STANDARDS.
On your side.
Independent in our evidence.
For families, deputies and attorneys
Most people who contact us have never instructed a social worker before. You will be told who is coming, what will happen and what it costs before anything starts.
You want to know who we are, who will actually do the work and what other families say.
Talk about your situationFor solicitors and professionals
Professional instructions should identify the question, applicable framework, evidence, deadline and intended report use. The agreed scope and fee provide the basis for the work; independence of opinion remains with the practitioner.
You want registrations, evidential standards, and how instruction and peer review work.
Discuss an instructionWhat professional instructions can expect
What you can expect from the practice, whichever service you instruct.
Social workers are registered with Social Work England or Social Care Wales, with professional indemnity cover in place.
Expert evidence must meet the rules, directions and any permission requirements of the particular proceedings. CPR Part 35 applies in civil proceedings within its scope; the Court of Protection and Family Court have their own expert-evidence rules. A report’s purpose and procedural status should be clear before instruction.
A second qualified professional reviews every report before it leaves the practice.
The employed team works within shared systems, supervision and reporting expectations. Each instruction still needs a practitioner whose competence and method fit the person, decision and intended use of the work.
Nellie Supports provides independent social work assessment, evidence and advocacy. We explain legal and procedural frameworks but do not provide regulated legal advice, and where a legal remedy is needed we will say so and signpost.
REGISTRATION, MEMBERSHIP & TRAINING
Know who is
doing the work.
Social-worker registration belongs to the individual practitioner and the relevant national regulator. Chartered status, professional membership, specialist training and organisational affiliations have different meanings. The bodies shown below should be read in that context; they are not a single accreditation of every Nellie Supports service. Check which status applies to the person or work being considered.
Professional registrations, accreditations and memberships may be person-specific, organisation-specific or service-specific depending on the body concerned.
Social Work EnglandSocial Care WalesBritish Association of Social WorkersBritish Psychological SocietyCourt of Protection Practitioners AssociationSociety of Later Life AdvisersMontreal Cognitive AssessmentFinancial Vulnerability TaskforceLiving Wage EmployerBest FoundationEcologi
Check our professional standards BASED IN GRANTHAM. WORKING NATIONALLY.
Our offices.
Our national reach.
Our head office is in Grantham, with administrative offices elsewhere. Mental capacity and social-care work is arranged across England and Wales; CHC and EHCP services concern England. The appropriate location and appointment format depend on the person and instruction, rather than the presence of an office in every town.
Explore our coverageHead office, Grantham
Unit 20, Springfield Business Park, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 7FZ
Coventry
Union House, 111 New Union Street, Coventry, CV1 2NT
Wales
Office M1.03, Newport Market, High Street, Newport, NP20 1FX
London
Gemma House, 39 Lilestone Street, Marylebone, London, NW8 8SS
Southampton
Director Generals House, Southampton, SO15 2EP
Newcastle upon Tyne
Collingwood Buildings, 38 Collingwood Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1JF
THE NAME & THE HERD
Why Nellie?
Care is at our heart.
Family is at the heart of every elephant's life, and like people, elephants care, comfort, empathise, work together and even hug. We thought it was a good way to sum up our compassionate, collaborative approach, and our mission to protect and support individuals along with the families and communities they are part of.
Protecting Our Global Herd
Use the linked Ecologi profile to check the practice’s recorded project contributions. Contributions to particular projects should be distinguished from a claim about the practice’s entire environmental footprint.
See the trees we have fundedCOMMON QUESTIONS
A little clarity.
Before your next step.
Are your social workers registered?
Yes. Every social worker is registered with Social Work England or Social Care Wales. Registration is checked on appointment and monitored throughout employment.
Are your practitioners employed or self-employed associates?
Employed. Practitioners are permanent members of the practice, supervised internally, and are not drawn from an associate or referral panel.
Is Nellie Supports independent?
Yes. We are instructed to give an independent opinion and we have no stake in the outcome. We reach the conclusion the evidence supports, whoever is paying.
Are your reports peer reviewed?
Yes. A second qualified professional reviews every report for reasoning, evidence and compliance before it is delivered.
Do you work across the whole of England and Wales?
Our mental capacity and social-care services cover England and Wales. Our CHC and EHCP/SEND services concern England. In-person or remote arrangements depend on the service, the person and the purpose of the work.
Is Little Nellies a separate organisation?
Little Nellies is a specialist SEND and EHCP service provided by Nellie Supports Ltd for children, young people and families in England. It has its own brand and pages within the wider practice. The agreed service, responsible practitioner and report-review arrangements should be clear before work begins.
KEEP EXPLORING
More from Nellie.
Our services
Every service line, with fees and process.
Prices
Published fees, VAT and any travel or additional-work charges in one place.
Where we work
Offices and coverage across England and Wales.
Training and events
Nellie on the Sofa webinars and the Nellie Con conference for legal, health and social care professionals.
Supporting guides and explainers
Who can conduct a testamentary assessment?
Who can conduct a testamentary capacity assessment, including solicitors, medical practitioners, social workers and specialist assessors.
Who can complete a PA14 medical certificate?
Who can complete a PA14 medical certificate, what the certificate covers and what evidence supports probate-related capacity conclusions.
LPA capacity assessments for solicitors and families
LPA capacity assessments for solicitors and families, including donor understanding, fluctuating capacity, evidence and challenge prevention.
What is capacity to decide where to live?
What capacity to decide where to live means, including residence options, risks, care needs, restrictions and consequences.
Evidence needed for a property capacity report
Learn what evidence is needed for a property capacity report, including decision-specific information, risks and report quality in England and Wales.