Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what operational guidance (including authorised professional practice, College of Policing guidance, National Police Chiefs’ Council guidance, or Home Office circulars) governs police involvement in safeguarding incidents where officers facilitate or endorse a material change in a child’s place of residence despite the refusal of a person with parental responsibility and without exercising section 46 of the Children Act 1989; and whether that guidance requires officers to (a) treat the arrangement as time-limited, (b) take steps to ensure the child is returned absent lawful authority, or (c) notify or refer the matter to the local authority and/or Family Court within a fixed timeframe, and what consequence applies if this does not occur.

The police play a vital role in safeguarding children and relevant guidance materials. This includes the College of Policing's Authorised Professional Practice (APP) and the statutory guidance for safeguarding partners Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023). Furthermore, the Home Office circular 017/2008 provides guidance on the duties and powers of the police under the Children Act 1989, and the Home Office Child Exploitation Disruption Toolkit includes guidance on how and when police powers of protection of children can be used.

As outlined in these documents, the police have a power to remove a child to suitable accommodation under Section 46 of the Children Act 1989, if they have reasonable cause to believe that the child would otherwise be likely to suffer significant harm.

Where police powers are exercised, Section 46 puts an upper limit of 72 hours on the length of time a child may be kept in police protection. Once powers are exercised, officers are required to notify the relevant local authority and they should ensure the child is moved to accommodation provided by or on behalf of the local authority, or a refuge.

Police powers can help in emergency situations but should only be used were necessary, for example if is there is insufficient time for the local authority to seek an Emergency Protection Order (EPO), and decisions to remove a child from a parent or carer should be made by a court. Without use of Section 46, the police cannot change a child’s place of residence.