This chapter considers how the Children Act 1989 provided a legal framework within which the state can support children to remain with their families through difficult situations and intervene to protect them when they face unacceptable risks. The chapter starts by giving a brief history of child protection law. The chapter then looks at the inherent tension in protecting children while aspiring to support their life with their families, before considering local authorities' powers and duties, resources, and the ever-increasing numbers of children who are involved with social services, whether as c hildren in need, looked after children, or as subjects of child protection investigations or applications.
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11. Child Protection: State Support for Children
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9. The Law Relating to Children: Children’s Rights and Private Law
The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam and assignment questions. Each book includes key debates, typical questions, diagram answer plans, suggested answers, author commentary, and tips to gain extra marks. This chapter considers children’s rights and private law relating to children. The first essay question focuses on the rights of the child to make his or her own decisions and to participate in private law proceedings, whilst the second examines how the law ensures that children have a relationship with both parents after separation. The third question is a problem scenario that requires discussion of orders under s. 8 of the Children Act 1989, the welfare principle, and the welfare checklist. The final problem question concerns inherent jurisdiction and the right of a child to refuse medical treatment.
Chapter
11. Child Protection: State Support for Children
This chapter considers how the Children Act 1989 provides a legal framework within which the state can support children to remain with their families through difficult situations and intervene to protect them when they face unacceptable risks. The chapter starts by giving a brief history of child protection law. It then looks at the inherent tension between protecting children while aspiring to support their lives with their families, before considering local authorities’ powers, duties, and resources. It considers why there are ever-increasing numbers of children who are involved with social services, whether as children in need, looked after children, or as subjects of child protection investigations or applications.
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12. Child Protection
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter examines the law on state intervention into family life where a child is considered to be ‘in need’ or at risk of significant harm. It discusses the competing approaches to state intervention and the principles underpinning the Children Act (CA) 1989; the legal framework governing local authority support for children in need under Part III of the CA 1989 and the Social Services and Well-Being (Wales) Act 2014; the law and procedure regulating compulsory intervention into family life by means of care proceedings under Part IV; and the various emergency and interim measures available to protect a child thought to be at risk of immediate harm.
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6. Financial Support for Children
It is undeniable that anyone who is legally classified as a parent has an obligation to maintain their child. This chapter considers three areas of financial support for children: child maintenance as a percentage of gross weekly income of the non-resident parent, the financial outcomes of divorce as guided by the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 or the Civil Partnership Act 2004, and Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989. The chapter starts with a brief history of financial support for children in the UK.
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11. The Law Relating to Children: Public Law and Adoption
The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam and assignment questions. Each book includes key debates, typical questions, diagram answer plans, suggested answers, author commentary, and tips to gain extra marks. This chapter deals with the public law relating to children, contained in Parts III, IV, and V of the Children Act 1989, and the law relating to adoption, under the Adoption and Children Act 2002. The questions contained in this chapter are a mixture of essay and problem questions that focus on: emergency protection for children, i.e. police protection, emergency protection orders, and local authority enquires; care, supervision, and education supervision orders; the difference between adoption and special guardianship orders and finally, the requirements and procedures for adoption.
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20. The High Court’s Inherent Powers in Respect of Children
N V Lowe, G Douglas, E Hitchings, and R Taylor
This chapter discusses the High Court’s inherent powers in respect of children. The development of these powers, principally under the aegis of the wardship jurisdiction, was highly influential in the modern development of law and practice concerning children, and the Children Act 1989 incorporates many of its features. In detail, the chapter first considers the High Court’s exercise of inherent jurisdiction; the court’s powers; local authority use of the jurisdiction; and private law use of the jurisdiction. It then does the same for wardship.
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16. Private Law Proceedings Concerning Children
N V Lowe, G Douglas, E Hitchings, and R Taylor
This chapter considers the courts’ powers under Part II of the Children Act 1989 to resolve family disputes concerning the upbringing of children. These disputes, commonly labelled ‘private law disputes’, are normally between the parents following divorce or separation but can involve other family members. It first discusses the original scheme of Part II; changes made by the Children and Adoption Act 2006; and changes made by the Children and Families Act 2014. It then considers section 8 orders; family assistance orders; and section 37 directions.
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18. Care and Supervision
N V Lowe, G Douglas, E Hitchings, and R Taylor
The Children Act 1989 places considerable importance on local authorities working in partnership with families and the avoidance wherever possible of court proceedings. However, the Act also makes provision, in the form of care and supervision orders, for compulsory measures to be taken to safeguard and promote children’s welfare. This chapter focuses on care and supervision orders. It covers the initiation of proceedings; the threshold criteria, which refers to conditions set out by s 31(2) that must be satisfied before a care or supervision order may be made; the ‘welfare stage’, where the court must, pursuant to s 1(1), regard the welfare of the child as the paramount consideration; tackling delay in care proceedings; court orders; appeals; and discharge of care orders and discharge and variation of supervision orders. The chapter ends by discussing the position of children in local authority care, focusing on the critical issue of contact with children in care.
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6. Financial Support for Children
This chapter considers three areas of financial support for children: child maintenance as a percentage of gross weekly income of the non-resident parent under the Child Support scheme; the residual court jurisdiction including under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 and the Civil Partnership Act 2004; and claims under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989.
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6. Children—private law
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter focuses on private law matters concerning children under the Children Act 1989, particularly sections 1 and 8. It begins by looking at who is a parent and explaining the concept of parental responsibility and who has it. The chapter then considers the factors considered by the courts to resolve disputes over aspects of a child’s upbringing, including the welfare principle, the welfare checklist, the ‘no delay’ principle, the ‘no order’ principle, and the presumption of continued parental involvement.
Chapter
7. Children—public law
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter, which focuses on public law matters concerning children under the Children Act 1989, first explains the powers and duties of local authorities, as well as those of the police, to protect children in need. It then considers emergency protection orders, which may be granted where a child is in need of immediate protection, along with interim orders and child assessment orders. The chapter also examines the ‘threshold criteria’ in section 31(2) of the Children Act 1989, which allows the court to make a care or supervision order, before concluding with an assessment of the Human Rights Act 1998 and its impact on the law in relation to care proceedings.
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Private law disputes and issues in children cases
This examines how the courts deal with private law issues or disputes relating to children’s upbringing, such as post-separation residence or contact disputes, or other specific issues, including international child abduction. It begins by setting out some general principles for deciding children cases which are contained in section 1 of the Children Act 1989, and procedural matters relating to such cases.
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6. Financial support for children
This chapter discusses the law governing child support. Child support is regulated by one or more of several statutes depending on the circumstances: the Child Support Act 1991 (CSA 1991), as amended; Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989; the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973; and the Civil Partnership Act 2004. The applicability of the CSA 1991 in a particular case can limit to some extent the use of the other statutes mentioned.
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10. Children needing services, care, and protection
This chapter examines the relationship between children, parents, and the state, looking at how the law responds to children needing services, care, and protection. Topics discussed include: Part III of the Children Act 1989; the threshold for compulsory intervention in family life based on the concept of ‘significant harm’; protecting children in an emergency; care and supervision orders; the local authority’s care plan and respective roles of the local authority and court; and discharge of care orders.
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11. Private Disputes over Children
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter, which examines the current legal framework for resolving private law disputes over children, first considers procedural issues germane to all private law disputes, including the extent to which children are able to participate in these proceedings. It then turns to the three main private law orders available under the Children Act 1989—child arrangements orders, specific issue orders, and prohibited steps orders—including detailed discussion of the law’s approach to contact applications in cases of domestic abuse allegations, and specific areas such as relocation disputes.
