Legislation, policy and guidance
This page outline the policy and guidance that specifically relates to children in care in the UK. National policies which aim to improve the life chances for all children, including looked after children.
Legislation
Children Act 1989
Sets out many of the duties, powers and responsibilities local authorities hold in respect of their looked after children and care leavers.
View the Children Act 1989.
Children (Leaving Care) 2000
Sets out duties local authorities have to support young people leaving care from 16 -21 years of age.
View the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000.
Adoption and Children Act 2002
Updated the legal framework for domestic and inter-country adoption, and places a duty on local authorities to maintain an adoption service and provide adoption support services.
View the Adoption and Children Act 2002.
Children and Adoption Act 2006
Gives courts more flexible powers to facilitate child contact and enforce contact orders when separated parents are in dispute.
View the Children and Adoption Act 2006
Children and Young Persons Act 2008
Legislates for the recommendations in the Department for Education and
Skill’s 2007 Care Matters white paper to provide high quality care and services for children in care.
View the Children and Young Persons Act 2008
Download the Care Matters white paper
Children and Families Act 2014
Encourages 'fostering for adoption' which allows approved adopters to foster children while they wait for court approval to adopt. Introduces a 26 week time limit for the courts to decide whether or not a child should be taken into care. In some cases, this limit may be extended by eight weeks. Introduces 'staying put' arrangements which allow children in care to stay with their foster families until the age of 21 years. This is provided that both the young person and the foster family are happy to do so.
View the Children and Families Act 2014
Policy and guidance
Recent government policy has focused on speeding up the adoption process and increasing the stability of placements for looked after children.
An action plan for adoption:tackling delay.
Sets out government proposals to change the system for prospective adopters and strengthen the performance regime for local authorities. Proposals include: scorecards to rate local authority performance on adoption targets; approval process for new adopters cut to six months; and a national gateway for adoption to provide a first point of contact.
(Department for Education, 2011)
Download An action plan for adoption: tackling delay.
Further action on adoption:
finding more loving homes.
Sets out plans for reforming the adoption system in England, with the main objective of speeding up adoption recruitment. Proposals include: new legislative action requiring local authorities to outsource adoption services if their recruitment process is taking too long; financial support for local authorities for greater investment in adoption in the form of a one-off £150 million Adoption Reform Grant; and a two-stage approval process, reducing the period from a formal application to approval being granted or refused to six months.
(Department for Education, 2013)
Visit the Gov.uk website for further information on government policy.
The NICE quality standard on the health and wellbeing of looked after children and young people.
This NICE quality standard, which is endorsed by NSPCC, sets out best practice in meeting the health and wellbeing needs of looked-after children and young people. NICE guidelines cover health and care in England. Decisions on how they apply in other UK countries are made by ministers in the Welsh Government, Scottish Government, and Northern Ireland Executive.
(National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2013)
Download the NICE quality standard on the health and wellbeing of looked after children and young people.
Statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care.
Outlines action that local authorities and their partners should take to stop children going missing from home or care and to protect those who do. Covers: agency roles and responsibilities; multi-agency working; access to support; risk assessment; safe and well checks; independent return interviews; emergency accommodation; children who repeatedly run away and go missing; and additional actions to protect looked after children.
(Department for Education, 2014)
Download Statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care.
The Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations
volume 2 care planning, placement and case review.
Updates the 2010 edition of the guidance. Describes the key principles underpinning the 1989 Children Act. Also consolidates information previously contained in a series of updates and supplements, including: contact with siblings, contact with youth justice services, out of authority placements, long-term foster placements, ceasing to look after a child, fostering for adoption and the delegation of decision making about looked after children to their carers. Aimed at local authority workers with responsibilities for looked after children.
(Department for Education, 2015)
Download The Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations volume 2: care planning, placement and case review (PDF).
Promoting the educational achievement of looked after children:
statutory guidance for local authorities.
Updates the 2010 statutory guidance. Details the duty local authorities and Virtual School Heads have to promote the educational achievement of the children they look after, including those placed out-of-authority.
(Department for Education, 2015)
Download Promoting the educational achievement of looked after children: statutory guidance for local authorities (PDF).
Promoting the health and well-being of looked-after children:
statutory guidance for local authorities, clinical commissioning groups and NHS England
Updates the 2009 guidance. Looks at the profile of looked after children using evidence from research and practice. Considers the health needs of this particular group of people and how well their needs are met. Also discusses the roles and responsibilities of Local Authorities and the NHS.
(Department for Education and Department of Health, 2015)
Download Statutory guidance on promoting the health and well-being of looked after children (PDF).
Framework and evaluation schedule for the inspection of services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers:
reviews of Local Safeguarding Children Boards
Sets out the framework for the inspection of services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers under section 136 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006. Areas covered include the experiences and progress of children in care, including adoption, fostering, the use of residential care, and children who return home. The framework also focuses on the arrangements for permanence for children who are looked after and the experiences and progress of care leavers.
OFSTED (2015)
Download Framework and evaluation schedule for the inspection of services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers: reviews of Local Safeguarding Children Boards (PDF).
Inspection of children’s homes:
framework for inspection from 1 April 2015
Updates the 2013 framework for the inspection of children's homes. Takes into account the overall experiences and progress of children and young people living in the home, with particular focus upon how well children and young people are helped and protected and the impact and effectiveness of leaders and
References:
http://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/child-protection-system/children-in-care/legislation-policy-r
