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The Visits to Former Looked After Children in Detention (England) Regulations 2010

S.I. 2010/2797 · Made 19 November 2010 · Extends to England and Wales

Up to date with all changes known to legislation.gov.uk, revised to 1 December 2020.

Children And Young Persons, England

Made 19th November 2010

Laid before Parliament 25th November 2010

Coming into force 1st April 2011

The Secretary of State for Education makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 23ZA(1)(b), (3) and (4), and section 104(4) of the Children Act 1989f1:

Annotations to the whole text

Footnotes

f1

1989 c.41. Section 23ZA was inserted by section 15 of the Children and Young Persons Act 2008 (c.23) (“the 2008 Act”); section 104(4) is amended by sections 39 and 42 of the 2008 Act. The powers are expressed to be exercisable by the “appropriate national authority”, defined in section 30A of the Children Act 1989 (“the 1989 Act”) (which is inserted by section 39 of the 2008 Act) as meaning, in relation to England, the Secretary of State. For the definition of “prescribed” see section 105(1) of the 1989 Act.

Contents

  1. 1Citation, commencement and application
  2. 2Interpretation
  3. 3Circumstances prescribed for the purpose of section 23ZA of the 1989 Act
  4. 4Frequency of visits
  5. 5Conduct of visits
  6. 6Reports of visits
  7. 7Advice, support and assistance
  8. Signature
  9. Explanatory note

1Citation, commencement and applicationI1

(1)

These Regulations may be cited as the Visits to Former Looked After Children in Detention (England) Regulations 2010 and come into force on 1st April 2011.

(2)

These Regulations apply in relation to England only.

2InterpretationI1

(1)

In these Regulations—

  • “the 1989 Act” means the Children Act 1989;

  • “A” means a child who was looked after by a local authority but who has ceased to be looked afterf1 by them as a result of the circumstances prescribed in regulation 3;

  • “R” means the representative of the responsible authority who is appointed to visit A in accordance with arrangements made by them under section 23ZA of the 1989 Act;

  • F1“registered manager” in relation to a secure children’s home means the person who is registered under Part 2 of the Care Standards Act 2000 F2or with Social Care Wales as a manager of that home;

  • “relevant youth offending team case manager” means the person within the responsible authority’s youth offending teamf2 who is managing A’s case;

  • “responsible local authority” means the local authority which looked after A immediately prior to A being detained; and

  • “secure children’s home” means a children’s home F3in England used for the purpose of restricting liberty and approved for that purpose by the Secretary of State, in respect of which a person is registered under Part 2 of the Care Standards Act 2000f3 F4or premises in Wales at which a secure accommodation service, within the meaning of Part 1 of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016, is provided and in respect of which a person is registered under Part 1 of that Act.

  • “secure training centre” has the meaning given in section 43(1)(d) of the Prison Act 1952;

  • “young offender institution” has the meaning given in section 43(1)(aa) of the Prison Act 1952; and

  • “youth offending team” has the meaning given in section 39(1) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998;

(2)

These Regulations do not apply to a child who is a relevant child for the purposes of section 23A of the 1989 Actf4.

3Circumstances prescribed for the purpose of section 23ZA of the 1989 ActI1F1

The circumstances prescribed for the purposes of section 23ZA(1)(b) of the 1989 Act are that the child has ceased to be a looked after child as a result of being detained, pursuant to an order of the court, in—

(a)

a secure children’s home,

(b)

a secure training centre,

(c)

a young offender institution, or

(d)

accommodation, or accommodation of a description, for the time being specified F2by regulations under section 248(1)(f) of the Sentencing Code (youth detention accommodation for purposes of detention and training order provisions), such as the Secretary of State directs in the child’s case.

4Frequency of visitsI1

(1)

The responsible authority must ensure that their representative (“R”) visits A—

(a)

within ten working days of A first being detained, in so far as is reasonably practicable, and

(b)

thereafter whenever reasonably requested to do so by—

(i)

A,

(ii)

a member of staff of the institution where A is detained,

(iii)

any parent of, or any other person with parental responsibility for, A, or

(iv)

the relevant youth offending team case manager.

(2)

The responsible authority may arrange for R to make such additional visits to A, having regard to any recommendation made by R in accordance with regulation 6(1)(b).

5Conduct of visitsI1

On each visit, R must speak to A in private unless—

(a)

A, being of sufficient age and understanding to do so, refuses,

(b)

R considers it inappropriate to do so, having regard to A’s age and understanding, or

(c)

R is unable to do so.

6Reports of visitsI1

(1)

R must provide a written report of each visit which must include—

(a)

R’s assessment, having regard to A’s wishes and feelings, as to whether A’s welfare is being adequately safeguarded and promoted whilst in detention,

(b)

R’s recommendation as to the timing and frequency of any further visits by R,

(c)

any other arrangements which R considers should be put in place with a view to promoting contact between A and A’s family or in order to safeguard and promote A’s welfare,

(d)

R’s assessment as to how A’s welfare should be adequately safeguarded and promoted following release from detention, in particular—

(i)

whether A will need to be provided with accommodation on release by the responsible authority or another local authority, and

(ii)

whether any other services should be provided by the responsible authority or another local authority in the exercise of their duties under the 1989 Act.

(2)

R must, in making any assessment under paragraph (1), unless it is not reasonably practicable to do so or it is not consistent with A’s welfare, take into account the views of—

(a)

any parent of, or any other person with parental responsibility for, A, and

(b)

appropriate members of staff of the institution where A is detained.

(3)

The responsible authority must give a copy of the report to—

(a)

A, unless it would not be appropriate to do so,

(b)

a person falling within paragraph (2)(a), unless to do so would not be in A’s best interests,

(c)

the governor, director or registered managerf1 of the institution where A is being detained,

(d)

the relevant youth offending team case manager,

(e)

where different from the responsible authority, the local authority in whose area A is detained, and

(f)

any other person whom the responsible authority consider should be given a copy of the report having regard to R’s assessment.

7Advice, support and assistanceI1

When making arrangements in accordance with section 23ZA(2)(b) for appropriate advice, support and assistance to be available to A, the responsible authority must ensure that—

(a)

the arrangements—

(i)

are appropriate having regard to A’s age and understanding, and

(ii)

give due consideration to A’s religious persuasion, racial origin, cultural and linguistic background and to any disability A may have, and

(b)

so far as is reasonably practicable having regard to A’s age and understanding, A knows how to seek appropriate advice, support and assistance from the authority.

Signature

Tim Loughton

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Department for Education

19th November 2010

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations make provision about visiting requirements for children and young people who were looked after by a local authority but have ceased to be so as a result of being detained in an institution, either having been remanded to prison custody or following conviction and sentencing by a court. Those who will have ceased to be looked after will be children and young people who, prior to entering custody, were either provided with accommodation under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 (“the 1989 Act”) or who had been remanded to local authority care under section 23(1) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 on sentencing.

These Regulations are made under section 23ZA of the 1989 Act (inserted by section 15 of the Children and Young Persons Act 2008) which confers a duty on a local authority (“the responsible authority”) to ensure that children who have ceased to be looked after by them as a result of prescribed circumstances are visited by a representative of the responsible authority and have access to advice, support and assistance.

The prescribed circumstances for the purposes of section 23ZA(1)(b) of the 1989 Act are that the child is detained in a young offender institution, a secure training centre or a secure children’s home (regulation 3).

Regulation 4 makes provision about the frequency of visits; the responsible authority must arrange for their representative to visit the child within ten days of the child first being detained and thereafter whenever reasonably requested to do so by specified persons, for example, the child or the child’s parents.

Regulation 5 provides that during each visit, the representative must speak to the child in private unless this is not appropriate or the child refuses.

Regulation 6 places a duty on the representative to provide a report of each visit and sets out what must be included in that report. It also provides that a copy of the report must be given to the child, unless it would be inappropriate to do so, and certain other persons.

Regulation 7 makes provision in relation to the responsible authority’s duty under section 23ZA(2)(b) of the 1989 Act to arrange for advice, support and assistance to be available to the child.