Barrister: Julia Belyavin
Source: Family Law Week
Summary: H is 15 and has been in local authority care since August 2019, initially under s20 and, since 15.06.2020, under an interim care order. Prior to that he had been in his father’s care under a residence order. After 2 short-term unregulated placements, H was placed in a children’s home in South Lanarkshire, Scotland (“the home”).
All parties agreed that the home was meeting H’s needs well, but the issue with which the court had to grapple was the legal framework under which a child subject to an (English) interim care order could be placed in a Scottish children’s home. (If the home was a secure accommodation placement, the amendments to the Children Act 1989 brought about by the Children and Social Work Act 2017 would have provided a solution.)