Children Act 2004

Year: 2004
Full text available: Here

This Act arose out of the Government’s Green Paper, “Every Child Matters” alongside its formal response to the Victoria Climbie Inquiry Report. The intention of the Act was:-

To concentrate on outcomes that children and young people say are important rather than organisational change
To create clear accountability for children’s services
To enable better joint working
To secure a better focus for safeguarding children

Alongside the Act, the government has published Every Child Matters: Next Steps.

Part 1 establishes a Children’s Commissioner, to promote awareness of the views and interests of children. The Commission is to have particular regard to disadvantaged children, together vulnerable young adults in England. The Commissioner has the power to hold enquiries into cases of individual children. The Commissioner is prohibited under section 2(7) from conduct investigations into individual cases although he can initiate inquiries into individual cases that meet certain criteria under section 3(1) and (2). However section 2(8) allows him access to children in institutions to ascertain their views. The Commission must have regard, under section 2(11) & (12) to the relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Commission can also under section 2 carry out an inquiry in certain circumstances and produce a report.

Similar provisions exist for Wales under section 5.

Part 2 of the Act introduces provisions in England to support better integrated planning, commissioning and delivery of children’s services, and to provide clear accountability. Local authorities are under a duty to make arrangements through which key agencies co-operate to improve the well-being of children and young people. Key agencies are under a responsibility to have regard to the need to safeguard children and promote their welfare in exercising their normal functions. Area Child Protection Committees are now replaced by Local Safeguarding Children Boards.

Section 12 makes provision for local authorities to establish databases of information about certain vulnerable children, in order to assist communication between professionals, who are supporting those children.

Children’s services must prepare and publish a Children and Young People’s Plan (CYPP) and England, put in place (in England) a director of children’s services.

Part 3 provides for similar provisions to be made in Wales.

Part 4 provides for the devolution of CAFCASS functions in Wales to the Assembly.

Part 5 makes a number of further provisions, which include measures:-

To strengthen existing notification arrangement for private fostering
To simplify the registration of child minders and providers of day care
To extend existing intervention powers
To extend inspection powers
To create a new duty for local authorities to promote the educational achievement of “looked after” children.
To place on local authorities a new duty to provide under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 to ascertain a child’s wishes.
To restrict the grounds on which the battery of a child may be justified as reasonable punishment
To remove the power to make a care order at a lower threshold than would be usual under the Children Act 1989 as a sanction for not complying with a Child Safety Order
To give the Children’s Commissioner for Wales the power to enter premises other than private home to interview children.
To amend section 97 of the Children Act 1989 and section 12 of the Administration of Justice Act 1960 to make clear that the publication of material from family proceedings which is likely to identify a child, is only prohibited in relation to publication of information to the public and to make it clear that rules of court will set out the cases in which publication of information relating to children is authorised.
To enable the Inland Revenue to share information with local authorities for the purposes of enquiries and investigations relating to the welfare of a child.