Care and supervision orders

Procedure

Under the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955, provision is made by FPR 2010, PD 12A (the Public Law Outline) for a tightly managed case management system in relation to proceedings under Part IV of the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989) including:

•
pre-proceedings checklists
•
advocates’ meetings
•
case management hearings
•
issues resolution hearings, and
•
more standardised disclosure and directions

See Practice Note: Public law children procedure—Public Law Outline.

Local authority duties

ChA 1989 provides for local authority social services departments to be responsible for making sure that children are safe and appropriately cared for by their parents or a person looking after them. Local authorities also have a general duty of care to promote the well-being of children in their area and are responsible for investigating any child in their area where they have cause to suspect the child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm.

Typically a local authority may start an investigation where:

•
it is directed to do so by the court
•
there is a persistent failure to comply

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