Education supervision orders

A local authority may commence proceedings under section 36 of the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989) where there are concerns that a child is not being properly educated. If such concerns are part of a wider picture of a child who is more generally suffering (or at risk of suffering) significant harm, attributable to a lack of reasonable parental care, or that the child is beyond parental control, it is open to the local authority to commence care or supervision proceedings. However, if the concerns are only educational, for example truancy, the usual first step will be to consider an application for an education supervision order.

See Practice Note:

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Cafcass guidance on conflicting assessments in public law cases

The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) has published new guidance for local authorities and Cafcass for cases where the views of the children’s guardian (and therefore their independent advice to the court) and the assessment of a local authority social worker and/or the independent reviewing officer fundamentally differ on the final care plan or interim arrangements for a child. The guidance applies to all children in care and supervision order applications under section 31 of the Children Act 1989 and deprivation of liberty applications. The guidance sets out the process that should be followed at any point during proceedings where a divergence arises and should be completed before final recommendations are submitted to court. The guidance requires that a pre-final hearing meeting be convened to identify and document the points of difference for the court. It includes suggestions for structuring the pre-final hearing meeting, a template agenda and a template for sharing the agreed rationale with the court. The guidance is not intended to be used to agree a joint position, rather to make sure that recommendations to court include a clear explanation about why the children’s guardian, the local authority social worker and/or the independent reviewing officer have reached fundamentally different positions. The explanation must set out what the points of difference are so that the judge in the case can better understand these. It remains for the court to decide what is safe and in the best interests of the child.