Guides / Social services
Chapter 13 · 8 min read
When police are involved
In short
- 1Police and social care are separate, can run side by side and can reach different decisions.
- 2Get legal advice before an interview, and follow every restriction until it's formally changed.
- 3Understand any arrangement before agreeing to leave home, change contact or section 20Section 20. Local-authority accommodation of a child without a care order. The child becomes looked after, but the local authority does not gain parental responsibility. Agreement must be informed and genuinely voluntary. Rights….
If the police get involved on top of everything else, it can feel like the ground has shifted twice. It helps to remember these are two separate processes, even when they land at the same time.
The police investigate whether a crime may have been committed. Social care looks at what your child has experienced, whether they may be at risk and what support or protection they need now.
An arrest doesn't prove an allegation. And a police decision not to charge doesn't automatically end a Child in NeedChild in Need (CIN) / section 17. A child who is unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of health or development without services; whose health or development is likely to be significantly or further impaired without services; or who… or child protection process.
Get legal advice first
If you're arrested or invited to a voluntary police interview, get legal advice before you answer questions. You're entitled to free legal advice at the police station.
Use a criminal solicitor for the police side, and a family law solicitor for social care or family court. Make sure each one knows about the other.
Know your police status
Ask the police or your solicitor to confirm your status, and any restrictions, in writing.
- Arrest: an investigative step, not a charge or a conviction.
- Pre-charge bailBail / pre-charge bail. Conditions you must follow while a police investigation continues, governed by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 as amended by the Policing and Crime Act 2017 and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act…: the investigation continues and you may have conditions limiting contact, communication or where you can go.
- Released under investigation: the investigation is still open, but you're not on bail and there are no bail conditions. Court orders or social care arrangements may still restrict contact.
- No further actionNFA (No Further Action). Police/CPS decide not to proceed with a criminal case at that time. Not a formal finding of innocence.: the police or Crown Prosecution ServiceCrown Prosecution Service (CPS). Prosecutes criminal cases investigated by the police in England and Wales. aren't taking the case further at that point.
- Charge: the criminal case is going ahead. Get advice from your criminal solicitor, and tell any solicitor advising you about your child.
Follow every written bail condition exactly. Only the police or a court can change a legal restriction. Someone else inviting you to make contact doesn't override it.
The waiting
Pre-charge bail follows a review timetable. Released under investigation has no fixed end date, and updates can be few and far between. Waiting is hard when it's affecting time with your child, but silence doesn't predict the outcome.
Keep the investigating officer's details, ask when you can expect an update, and make sure social care has your police status recorded correctly. Talk about the evidence only with your solicitor, and don't contact witnesses.
Why social care doesn't wait
The two processes answer different questions and move at different speeds. Social care has to decide what your child needs now, so decisions about contact, where your child lives and support may be made before the police are finished.
If you're asked to leave home or change contact
Social care may ask you to leave the family home, or accept reduced, supervised or paused contact while concerns are looked at.
Ask whether it's a recommendation, a voluntary safety agreement, a bail condition or a court order. A social care plan isn't a court order, but refusing it may lead the local authority to reassess the risk or apply to court.
Get the reasons, the contact arrangements and the review date in writing. Get legal advice before agreeing to anything open-ended.
Please confirm the concern, the legal status of this arrangement, how I can stay involved with my child, what needs to change and when it will be reviewed.
Child protection alongside a police case
Section 47Section 47. Local authority duty to make enquiries where there is reasonable cause to suspect significant harm. enquiries and a child protection conference can carry on while the police investigate. The conference looks at your child's safety and plan. It doesn't decide criminal guilt.
Prepare a short statement covering your child's needs, your position, your police status, the arrangements you have followed and the support you can offer. Your criminal solicitor should check anything you plan to say about the allegation itself.
If the police take no further action
Get written confirmation if you can and give it to the social worker, the conference chair and your solicitor.
No further action doesn't automatically end the social care process, but it must be recorded and taken into account.
The police confirmed no further action on [date]. Please update the record, tell me which concerns are still supported by other information, and arrange a review of the analysis and plan.
Social care may still have concerns based on other evidence or observations. If so, they should say what those are, rather than keep relying on an investigation that has ended.
How your child can be moved away from home
If social care thinks your child can't safely stay at home, there are several ways they can come to stay somewhere else. The Children Act 1989 has a different section for each. One needs your agreement. The others don't. Here's what each one actually is.
| Section | What it is | How long | Your agreement needed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section 20Section 20. Local-authority accommodation of a child without a care order. The child becomes looked after, but the local authority does not gain parental responsibility. Agreement must be informed and genuinely voluntary. Rights… | Voluntary. You agree that your child stays somewhere else, such as with a foster carer or relative. | As long as you agree. You can usually object or ask for your child back. | Yes |
| Section 46 (police protectionPolice protection. Power for a police officer to take a child to safety for up to 72 hours without a court order, where the child would otherwise be likely to suffer significant harm. Section 46 of the Children Act 1989.) | A police officer takes your child to safety, without a court order. | Up to 72 hours | No |
| Section 44 (emergency protection orderEmergency protection order (EPO). A court order, usually applied for by the local authority, allowing a child to be removed or kept in a safe place for up to eight days, extendable once to 15 days. Section 44 of the Children Act 1989.) | A court order, usually applied for by the local authority, to remove your child or keep them somewhere safe. | Up to eight days, extended once to 15 at most | No |
| Section 21Section 21. The local authority's duty to provide accommodation for a child removed from home under police protection or an emergency protection order. It doesn't depend on parental agreement, unlike section 20. | Not a way of removing a child. It's the local authority's duty to provide somewhere for your child to stay after police protection or an emergency protection order. | While the emergency lasts | No |
| Section 38 (interim care orderCare order. A court order that gives the local authority parental responsibility for a child. A parent can retain parental responsibility too.) | A temporary court order while the court decides whether to make a care order. The local authority shares parental responsibilityParental responsibility. The legal rights, duties and authority a parent has in relation to a child. It does not on its own guarantee a set amount of time with the child. with you. | Set by the court until it decides | No. A judge decides. |
| Section 31 (care order) | A court order placing your child in the care of the local authority. It gets parental responsibility, shared with you, and can decide where your child lives. | Until your child is 18, unless the court ends it earlier | No. A judge decides. |
If you're asked to agree to section 20
You don't have to agree on the spot. Ask what the concern is, why this is being suggested, how long it's for and what would need to change for your child to come home. Your agreement must be informed and voluntary, and you generally have the right to object or ask for your child back.[5]
Your child would become "looked after", with a care plan and reviews, but the local authority wouldn't get parental responsibility.
In practice this gets complicated. What counts as a clear objection, the timing of a request and the position of older teenagers can all affect what happens. Get family law advice before agreeing, withdrawing agreement or asking for your child back in a serious safeguarding dispute.[5][6]
An informal arrangement with a relative or family friend is different, and the support and responsibilities may not be the same as section 20. The same advice applies.[6]
If your child is taken away urgently
Police protection and emergency protection orders both happen without your consent. Here's what else is worth knowing.
Police protection. The police must tell the local authority. They must also tell you what they have done and plan to do, as far as they can, and allow reasonable contact.
Emergency protection order. The application can be made without you being told first. The local authority gets limited parental responsibility, only what's needed to keep your child safe. If you weren't at the hearing and weren't given notice, you can ask the court to end the order once 72 hours have passed.
While your child is away. The local authority has to provide somewhere safe for them to stay (section 21). It isn't a decision that your child should be in care. It should consult you, allow reasonable contact and keep the separation no longer than needed.
After that, one of three things normally happens. Your child goes home. You agree to a section 20 arrangement. Or the local authority applies to court for a care order.
What to do. Ask what has happened, where your child is and what happens next. Ask for contact, and write down what you're told and when. Then call a public law children solicitor the same day and tell them it's an emergency removal. Don't wait to see how it goes.
If it moves towards court
A Letter Before ProceedingsLetter Before Proceedings. A formal letter telling a parent or other person with parental responsibility that the local authority is considering applying for a care or supervision order.. This is the formal warning that the local authority is considering applying to court for a care or supervision orderSupervision order. A court order requiring a named supervisor, usually the local authority, to advise, assist and support the child.. Contact a public law children solicitor straight away, take the whole letter and go to the meeting with your solicitor. Parents and others with parental responsibility are normally entitled to free legal advice at this stage, whatever their income.[7]
An application for a care order. A judge makes the decision, and only if they're satisfied that your child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm, and that a care order is better for your child than no order. While the court decides, it can make an interim order. You're a party to the case, so you have the right to be heard and to be represented. Parents are normally entitled to legal aid in care proceedings, whatever their income.[7]
Court papers or a hearing notice. Tell your solicitor immediately. Don't miss a hearing or any deadline in the papers.