Children in Care

(asked on 20th July 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to amend the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 to allow contact between a looked-after child and a sibling that is not looked after.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 1st September 2020

As set out in my response of PQ 18831 (https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-02-21/18831/) on 23 February 2020, under section 34 of the Children Act 1989, children who are subject to a care order can apply to the court to make an order for contact with any named person, including their siblings. The child’s social worker or the Independent Reviewing Officer can assist the child in obtaining legal advice or in establishing whether an appropriate adult is able and willing to provide such assistance or bring the proceedings on his/her behalf.

Contact can be very important in helping children and young people develop their sense of identity and understand their lives and their sense of self. The government believes that contact between a looked after child and their siblings is very important and should be encouraged.

Ultimately, contact arrangements should be focused on, and shaped around, the child’s needs. The child’s welfare is the paramount consideration at all times and each child’s wishes and needs for contact should be individually considered and regularly assessed.

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