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The written reasons are being distributed on the strict understanding that in any report, no person may be identified by name or location (Other than a person identified by name in the reasons themselves) and that in particular the anonymity of the children and the adult members of their family must be strictly preserved
Neutral Citation Number: [2009] EWMC 9 (FPC)
In the Magistrates’ Court
Family Proceedings Court
Before:
District Judge (Magistrates’ Court)
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Between:
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X Local Authority |
Applicant |
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and |
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Miss M |
1st Respondent |
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Mr A |
2nd Respondent |
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A (a child) |
3rd Respondent |
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Re A (a child)
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Miss K for the Applicant
Miss H for the 1st Respondent
Mr H for the 2nd Respondent
Miss H for the 3rd Respondent
Hearing date: 14th December 2009
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Justices’ Reasons
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1. |
This is an application by X Council (the Council) for care and placement orders in respect of a female child, A who was born on the [a date] and who is therefore four months old. A’s mother is Miss M (the mother) who is present at court and who is legally represented. The mother does not consent to either application but equally does not actively oppose them. A’s father is Mr A (the father) who is also present at court and legally represented. The father shares parental responsibility for A as a result of being named as the father on A’s birth certificate. The father does not consent to the applications and would like to be given the opportunity to parent A himself as set out in his most recent statement dated 14 December 2009 which has been placed before the court. The father has given oral evidence before me this morning in support of his statement. A is represented through the Children’s Guardian, Miss H, who supports both applications. |
2. |
The background to this case is fully set out in the bundle before the court and in particular the statement of Miss C, Social Worker at pages B1-12 of the bundle and the pre-birth assessment by the Family Centre at pages C1-23 of the bundle. There have been previous proceedings involving A’s half sibling, L. Although L is a child of the mother, father in these proceedings is not L’s father but he was living with the mother at the time of L’s care proceedings and was included in an assessment carried out by the Family Centre. The concerns with regard to L were that the mother and father had difficulty caring for themselves. Home conditions were poor and there were also concerns as to the volatile nature of their relationship and their inability to put L’s needs before their own. It was therefore felt that L was at risk of suffering significant emotional harm and neglect and this was confirmed by the Family Centre upon completion of their assessment. Consequently, L was made the subject of care and placement orders on 11th of March 2009 by X Family Proceedings Court. |
3. |
Within a few days of the conclusion of those proceedings the Council became aware that the mother was again pregnant and a pre-birth assessment was requested. At the same time it is noted in the chronology at page 6 of the bundle that the mother had threatened to commit suicide after having an argument with the father. An initial assessment was completed and this was followed by the pre-birth assessment which recommended that the expected child should not be placed in the care of her parents (C 21-22). The parents did not accept the conclusions of the Family Assessment Report and subsequently made an application for a Residential assessment but this was refused by the court |
4. |
The threshold criteria are set out in the schedule annexed to this judgement and have been agreed by all parties in this case who have signed the schedule. I approve the schedule and make findings of fact accordingly. I am therefore satisfied to the required standard that at the time protective action was taken A was at risk of significant harm in the form of emotional harm and neglect due to the care likely to be provided for her by her parents not being what it would be reasonable to expect a parent to give. |
5. |
I must now consider what order, if any, to make having regard to the welfare principles set out in section 1 Children Act 1989 and reminding myself that it is A’s welfare which is my paramount consideration. A is just four months old and has been in the same foster placement since birth. I am advised by the Children’s Guardian, and I accept, that she appears to be a happy and well cared for baby who is thriving in her placement. She has experienced some stomach problems but these appear to have resolved and she is no longer considered to be in need of any monitoring or specialist health care. There are currently no concerns about her general development. At her age, A will need the long-term emotional security of growing up in a warm and loving environment where her physical and emotional needs will be consistently met and where she will receive stimulation and encouragement in order that she can meet her full educational potential. The Children’s Guardian believes that as A has settled well in her current placement and has developed an attachment with her carer she should be able to form a good attachment to any new carer in the future. However, the Guardian believes that her next move should be to a permanent family placement which can meet her needs through to childhood. I agree |
6. |
There is no doubt that both parents love A and both express a wish to care for her if only they were able to do so. However, both parents are young and inexperienced and clearly have difficulty is in managing their own lives at the present time let alone caring for a young, vulnerable and dependent child. In his evidence to me this morning, the father has accepted that he lacks experience and has asked for an opportunity to gain this so that he can care for A. Unfortunately, in my judgment A cannot wait for her father or mother to gain the necessary skills in order successfully parent a child and it would not be in her best interests to delay decisions about her future whilst attempts are made to acquire such skills. |
7. |
I am therefore satisfied from the evidence before me that neither parent is in a position to offer the necessary level of care to A either now or in the foreseeable future, and it is also evident from the most recent statement of the social worker, Miss B, that there are no other family members able to care for her. In all the circumstances, therefore, the only order which I can make is a care order to X Local Authority which I now do. |
8. |
I must now consider the placement application. As A is only 4 months old she requires a permanent, stable and loving home where all her needs can be met throughout her childhood and into adolescence. In my judgment this can only be achieved through adoption. A has already been considered by the council’s Adoption Panel as suitable for adoption. As I have said, A has already formed strong attachments to her current foster carers but it is believed that these can be transferred to her new carers. However, the sooner this change of placement occurs, the easier it will be for A to begin to form new attachments. |
9. |
Neither the mother nor the father consent to a placement order being made and I can only proceed to make such an order if I dispense with their consent which I am asked to do on the grounds that A’s welfare requires that parental agreement be dispensed with. This, of course, mirrors the test which I must apply in considering the application generally, namely that the paramount consideration must be A’s welfare throughout her life. |
10. |
For the reasons I have already given, and applying the welfare checklist set out in the Adoption and Children Act 2002, I am satisfied that A’s welfare dictates that a placement order should be made so as to safeguard her future care, and that for the same reasons the consent of her mother and father should be dispensed with. |
11. |
In arriving at this decision I am aware that A will not be brought up in her birth family and will have only limited contact with her birth parents and L through the council’s letter box scheme, but I am satisfied that these arrangements are the best that can be made in the circumstances and will help meet A’s needs for information about her biological family as she grows older. |
12. |
I therefore dispense with the consent of her mother and her father and make a placement order in favour of X Council in respect of A. In doing, so I approve the care plan. |
13. |
Before a District Judge (Magistrates’ Court) |
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14th December 2009 |
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SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS |
16. |
The Local Authority submits that at the time protective measures were taken in relation to A, she was likely to suffer significant harm attributable to the care likely to be given to her not being what it would be reasonable to expect a parent to give her (Section 31(2) of the Children Act 2989). Specifically A is likely to be at risk of suffering emotional harm and neglect as a result of the following: |
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