Amendments

This chapter was updated in March 2025.

In February 2025 in Section 5, Visiting Requirements to a Child in Need the minimum requirement for visiting a child/young person assessed as being a Child in Need will be four weekly (every 20 working days).

This chapter was refreshed in December 2024.

This chapter was refreshed in December 2024.

In December 2024, this chapter was refreshed.

In December 2024, Section 15, Resolving Disagreements was updated to include information on Guidance: Carry Out an Order in Special Educational Needs Cases. Section 15.1, Registering an appeal with the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Disability) was updated in line with case law.

This chapter was added to the manual in December 2024.

In December 2024, information was added in relation to Ofsted and CQC Joint Registration Guidance: Children’s Homes and Health Care.

This chapter was refreshed in December 2024.

In December 2024, this chapter was revised in line with Working Together to Safeguard Children.

In December 2024, this chapter was refreshed.

This chapter was added to the manual in December 2024.

This chapter was refreshed in December 2024. .

This chapter was updated in December 2024 to reflect Championing Kinship Care: The National Kinship Care strategy.

This chapter was updated in December 2024 to note that if a young person in a Staying Put arrangement dies up to and including the age of 24, notifications should be made in accordance with the Death or Serious Injury to a Child (Looked After, Child in Need or Care Leaver Up to and Including the Age of 24) Procedure.

This chapter was updated in December 2024.

In December 2024, information was added to Section 3, Stage One - The Pre-Assessment Process, with details on how to request information about an applicant from Ofsted.

This chapter was updated in December 2024.

In December 2024, information on Ofsted checks was added into Section 5.1, Checks.

In December 2024, a link was added to Ofsted and CQC Joint Registration Guidance: Children’s Homes and Health Care.

In December 2024, Section 4.2, Procedural Fairness was updated in line with case-law.

This chapter was updated in June 2024.

In June 2024 this chapter was updated in line with Working Together to Safeguard Children.  New Section 3, Death of a Care Leaver Up to and Including the Age of 24 was added.

In June 2024, Section 2, Ordinary Residence was updated in line with case law.

This chapter was updated in June 2024.  Information was added into Section 17, Special Guardian Duty on the Death of the Child, that the relevant local authority should be notified if the child was previously a looked after child.

This chapter was amended in June 2024 to include information from Special Educational Needs and Disability: Improving Local Authority Decision Making - Report of the Administrative Justice Council’s Working Group on Special Educational Needs and Disability.

In June 2024 this chapter was updated in line with Working Together to Safeguard Children, to note that notifications should also be made of the death of a care leaver up to and including the age of 24. 

In June 2024, Section 10, Use of Inherent Jurisdiction to Authorise a Placement Involving a Deprivation of Liberty was updated throughout in line with Revised Practice Guidance on the Court’s Approach to Unregistered Placements (October 2023) and Revised National Listing Protocol for Applications that Seek Deprivation of Liberty Orders Relating to Children under the Inherent Jurisdiction. And to include information from Guidance - Placing Children: Deprivation of Liberty Orders - guidance for providers, social workers and placement commissioners on placing children, subject to a deprivation of liberty order (DoL), in unregistered settings.

This chapter was refreshed in June 2024.

In June 2024 this chapter was updated to include information from Guidance - Placing Children: Deprivation of Liberty Orders - guidance for providers, social workers and placement commissioners on placing children, subject to a deprivation of liberty order (DoL), in unregistered settings and Revised Practice Guidance on the Court’s Approach to Unregistered Placements (October 2023)