DfE consults as councils take on new responsibilities for children on remand

The Department for Education has launched a consultation on changes to take into account new local authority responsibilities towards children looked after following remand.

Following the commencement of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, councils will have responsibilities towards all children who have been remanded into local authority or youth detention accommodation.

Under s. 104(1) of LASPO, a child who is remanded to youth detention accommodation is to be treated as looked after by the local authority designated by the court.

The consultation proposes amendments to the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 (the ’Care Planning Regulations’).

The paper says: “Many looked after children are involved with the youth justice system. There are already looked after children in custody who are entitled to ongoing local authority support during their detention and on release.”

It points to Chapter 8 of Children Act Guidance (volume 2) Care Planning, Placement and Case Review as providing extensive guidance about how local authorities are expected to respond to the needs of this group. Chapter 6(c) of Children Act Guidance (volume 3) Planning Transition to Adulthood for Care Leavers also provides similar guidance on meeting the needs of care leavers.

The DfE says that “in the main”, local authorities will be under the same care planning and review duties in relation to children who become looked after as a result of being remanded.

However, the paper proposes to modify the current arrangements for care planning and review in a number of respects as a result of the LASPO changes.

According to the Department, these modifications are necessary to take into account:

• “that the decision to remand a child, therefore making them looked after (if they were not already looked after prior to remand) is made by a court, rather than by the designated local authority that will have duties towards them. This decision may be made at short, or no, notice for the local authority concerned;
• that local authorities may only have very short-term relationships with remanded looked after children, lasting only for the period they remain remanded;
• that where a child is remanded in youth detention accommodation (YDA), the child will not be placed by the authority that is looking after them, rather they will be placed by the Youth Justice Board’s Placement Service acting on behalf of the Secretary of State (for Justice). In these circumstances the local authority responsible for the child does not have control over the day to day arrangements necessary to safeguard them and promote their welfare including arrangements for their education/training and health care.”

The DfE says the Care Planning Regulations will be amended by inserting a new Part which sets out how local authorities’ care planning duties are modified in relation to children on remand, whether they are remanded to local authority accommodation, or to YDA.

The Department will also, in future, revise guidance concerning wider local authority responsibilities towards looked after children involved with the youth justice system.

“This will provide an opportunity to restate how the interface between children’s and youth justice services can best be managed for this very vulnerable group of young people,” it says.

Consideration will also be given as to whether consequential amendments are needed to other sets of regulations concerning looked after children and care leavers.

The consultation lasts until 6 February. For more information, click here.