The Children Act 1989/2004
 To
discuss the background to the
Children Act 1989.
 To identify the key principles of the
Children Act 1989
 To discuss the findings for the Laming
inquiry and The Green Paper, Every
Child Matters.
 To identify the key principles of the
Children Act 2004
1889 – Children’s charter
1908 – Children’s Act
1932 – Children and young person’s act
1948 – Children’s Act
1968 – Social Work (Scotland) Act
1974 – Inquiry into the death of Maria
Caldwell
1989 – Children Act
 The
Children Act 1989 places a duty on
local authorities to safeguard and promote
the welfare of children within their area and
to provide a range and level of services
appropriate to those children’s needs.
 Local authorities must also make child
protection enquiries if they have reasonable
cause to suspect a child in their area is
suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm
The 1989 act introduced changes in the language
we use to refer to children
 Parental rights became parental responsibility
 Emphasis on people’s responsibilities to the
child.
 Made the entry route into care one single route
and orders made have to satisfy the criteria for
S.31
 The concept of Wardship became extremely
limited.
To name but a few ………………………………….

 Bringing
together private and public law
in one framework.
 Balance child protection while enabling
parents to challenge state intervention.
 To work in partnership with parents.
 To promote the use of voluntary
arrangements.
 To restructure the courts to facilitate the
management of family proceedings.
 Children’s
welfare is paramount in the
decision making process.
 The wishes and preferences of the child
is paramount.
 Parental responsibility has replaced
parental rights.
 Children have the ability to be parties
separate to their parents.
 Local
authorities are charged with duties to
identify children in need and promote and
safeguard their welfare.
 Duties and powers placed on Local
Authorities to provide services for children
and families.
 A checklist of factors must be considered by
the courts before reaching decisions.
 Orders under the act are not made unless it
can be shown that this is better for the child
than not making an order.
 The concept of no delay.
 Parental Responsibility
 Welfare of the Child
 Partnership and co-operation
 Powers and duties of Local Authority
Services
 Children in need
 Accommodated children
 Case reviews and complaints procedures
 Protection of children including orders to
provide immediate protection for children
and the concept of significant harm.
The Laming report found that Victoria had
suffered extreme abuse and neglect.
“Not one of the agencies empowered by
parliament to protect children in
positions similar to Victoria’s – funded
from the public purse – emerge from this
enquiry with much credit. The suffering
and death of Victoria was a gross failure
of the system and was inexcusable”
The Laming Report
 In
2003 the Government asked children,
young people and adults in England for
their views on how children and young
people should be treated and helped. They
wanted to improve health, education, social
care and justice. The document asking these
questions was a green paper called ‘Every
Child Matters’.
 The information from this exercise was used
to develop the Children’s Bill and this in turn
became the Children Act 2004, replacing
the Children Act 1989.
 Be
healthy
 Stay Safe
 Enjoy and achieve
 Make a positive contribution
 Achieve economic wellbeing
Increasing the focus on supporting families
and carers - the most critical influence on
children's lives
 Ensuring necessary intervention takes
place before children reach crisis point and
Protecting children from falling through the
net
 Addressing the underlying problems
identified in the report into the death of
Victoria Climbié
 Ensuring that the people working with
children are valued, rewarded and trained

A
Director of Children’s Services
covering Children’s social services and
education.
 Integrated services to be provided
through a Children’s Trust.
 Local Safeguarding Boards
 In central Government responsibility for
children’s services moved to the DfES
and a Minister for Children, Young People
and Families was created.
Co-operation of funds from different agencies to
facilitate best outcomes for children.
 Well being – incorporates the 5 outcomes from
ECM and S.11 outlines the duty to make
arrangements to promote and safeguard welfare
from an interagency standpoint.
 The Children’s Commissioner.
 An integrated inspection process for children’s
services
 Enables the government to create an electronic
record of every child in England, Scotland and
Wales to make it easier to trace children across
local authorities and government services.

How effective do you think these two acts
have been?
Lord Laming recommendations