Child Protection Plans

If a Child is made the subject of a Child Protection Plan

Where a child is made the subject of a Child Protection Plan, it is the role of the conference to consider and make decisions on how agencies, practitioners and the family should work together to ensure that the child will be safeguarded from harm in the future. This should enable both practitioners and the family, to understand exactly what is expected of them and what can they expect of others.

The chair must ensure that the following tasks are completed:

clarify the different purpose and remit of the Initial Child Protection Conference, the Core Group, and the Child Protection Review Conference
that a Lead Social Worker is identified, and if this is not possible that a first line manager from Children's Social Care is identified to act in that role in the interim
identify the membership of the Core Group
establish how the child, parents (including all those with Parental Responsibility) and wider family members should be involved in the ongoing assessment, planning and implementation process, and the support, advice and advocacy available to them
establish timescales for meetings of the Core Group, production of a Child Protection Plan, and for child protection review meetings
outline the Child Protection Plan, in as much detail as possible, especially, identifying what needs to change in order to achieve the planned outcomes to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child
ensure a contingency plan is in place if agreed actions are not completed and/or circumstances change; for example, if a caregiver fails to achieve what has been agreed, a court application is not successful or a parent removes the child from a place of safety
agreeing a date for the first Child Protection Review Conference, and under what circumstances it might be necessary to convene the conference before that date.

Where a child has suffered, or is likely to suffer, Significant Harm in the future, it is the local authority's duty to consider the evidence and decide what, if any, legal action to take. The information presented to the Child Protection Conference should inform that decision-making process but it is for the local authority to consider whether it should initiate for example, Care Proceedings. Where a child who is the subject of a Child Protection Plan becomes Looked After, the Child Protection Plan should form part of the child's Care Plan.

Outline Child Protection Plan

The Outline Child Protection Plan should be outcome focussed and:

identify factors associated with the likelihood of the child suffering Significant Harm and ways in which the child can be protected through an inter-agency plan based on the current findings from the assessment and information held from any previous involvement with the child and family
establish short-term and longer-term aims and objectives that are clearly linked to reducing the likelihood of harm to the child and promoting the child's welfare, including contact with family members
be clear about who will have responsibility for what actions - including actions by family members - within what specified timescales
Outline ways of monitoring and evaluating progress against the planned outcomes set out in the plan and
be clear about which practitioner is responsible for checking that the required changes have taken place, and what action will be taken, and by whom, when they have not.

If a Child does not require a Protection Plan

If it is decided that the child is not at risk of continuing Significant Harm, but the child is in need of support to promote her/his health or development, the conference must ensure that recommendations are made to this effect.

Subject to the family's views and consent, it may be appropriate to:

make recommendations about support and help, including through the Early Help Plan process
establish commitment to inter-agency working, particularly where the child's needs are complex (this should involve a regularly reviewed child's plan).

The decision must be put in writing to the parent(s), and where appropriate the child, as well as communicated to them verbally.

Discontinuing the Child Protection Plan

As indicated in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 [external link]. A child should no longer be the subject of a Child Protection Plan if:

it is judged that the child is no longer continuing to, or is likely to, suffer significant harm and therefore no longer requires safeguarding by means of a Child Protection Plan.
the child and family have moved permanently to another local authority area. In such cases, the receiving local authority should convene a Child Protection Conference within 15 working days of being notified of the move. Only after this event may the original local authority discontinue its Child Protection Plan or
the child has reached 18 years of age (to end the Child Protection Plan, the local authority should have a review around the child's birthday and this should be planned in advance), has died or has permanently left the United Kingdom.

When a child is no longer the subject of a Child Protection Plan, notification should be sent, as minimum, to all those agency representatives who were invited to attend the initial Child Protection Conference that led to the plan.

Where one or more agencies currently working with a child are not present at the conference deciding on whether to discontinue the Child Protection Plan, the chair may decide to seek their views first. This should be done in writing within 10 working days and written responses provided within 10 working days.

The discontinuation of the Child Protection Plan should not lead to the automatic withdrawal of help. The Lead Social Worker must discuss with parents and child(ren) what services are wanted and needed, based on the re-assessment of the child and family. The Core Group should also consider what continuing support should be offered and, where the discontinuation of the Child Protection Plan is recommended, they should also submit a plan for the provision of the proposed continuing support, including the identification of a Lead Practitioner and which multi agency practitioners will continue their involvement.

Consideration should be given to holding a multi-agency meeting 10 days following the discontinuing of the Child Protection Plan to develop a detailed child's plan and 3 months afterwards to provide a first review to the child's plan. Subsequently the child’s plan should be reviewed at least every 6 months.

Looked after children with Child Protection Plans

Children, who are already looked after, will not usually be the subject of Child Protection Conferences, though they may be the subject of a section 47 enquiry. The circumstances in which a child, who is looked after, may be considered for a Child Protection Conference or be subject to a Child Protection Plan are likely to be a rare occurrence. The Care Plan and Placement Plan for a child who is looked after (whether there are proceedings pending an outcome, an interim Care order or a Care order in place) should provide the means to safeguard the child. The Care Plan and Placement Plan should be reviewed and updated regularly and in response to new information or concerns about the welfare of the child.

Children returning home

If it is proposed that a child subject to a Care order should be returned to their birth family / returned home, the members of the statutory looked after child case review (The Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Volume 2: Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (2015)) [external link ] when considering the proposal for rehabilitation must decide and record whether an Initial Child Protection Conference should be convened prior to the change. If the decision of the Review is that an initial child protection conference should be convened, the child's social worker must request it to take place within 15 days of the case review decision.

A child looked after under section 20 of the Children Act 1989, who has been or is about to be returned to a parent's care, about whom there are concerns about risk of significant harm may be subject of a s47 enquiry and a child protection conference.

See The Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Volume 2: Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (2015) [external link] and the Practice Guidance for the Use of Section 20 Provision in the Children Act 1989 in England.

If a parent removes or proposes to remove a child looked after under section 20 from the care of the local authority and there are serious concerns about that parent's capacity to provide for the child's needs and protect them from significant harm, the social worker will make a decision about whether a child protection enquiry should be initiated. If a section 47 child protection enquiry is initiated, the reasons for this must be clearly recorded on the child's record and may lead to an initial child protection conference.

Any plan should be based on the child's welfare needs and avoid delay. In these circumstances, the local authority Children's Social Care social worker should consider whether legal proceedings are required to protect the child in line with the Public Law Outline LINK.

Children with Child Protection Plans who become looked after

If a child subject of a Child Protection Plan becomes looked after under section 20, their legal situation is not permanently secure and the next Child Protection Review Conference should consider the child's safety in the light of the possibility that the parent can simply request their removal from the local authority's care. The Child Protection Review Conference must be sure that the looked after Care Plan and Placement Plan provide adequate security for the child and sufficiently reduces or eliminates the risk of significant harm identified by the initial child protection conference.

If a child ceases to be subject of a Child Protection Plan as a result of a decision at a child protection review conference, and the parent then unexpectedly requests the return of the child from the local authority's care, the social worker should discuss the need for an initial child protection conference. The social worker must record the reasons for the decision whether or not to hold a conference.

Avoiding ‘double protection’

There are situations where children who are subject to a Child Protection Plan become either:

Section 20 Children Act 1989 accommodated (voluntarily accommodated), or
are the subject of Care Proceedings

In such circumstances they are ‘doubly protected’ in that they are subject to both a care plan through the Court process or the Looked After Children’s process and subject to a Child Protection Plan. This is unnecessary and leads to a duplication of reviewing procedures.

In the above circumstances, removal from a plan can be considered. The Social Worker must contact Core Group members to advise of the change of the child’s circumstances. If the Core Group are in agreement with the proposal to remove the Child Protection Plan, the Social Worker will then on behalf of the Core Group request the plan be removed by writing to the Independent Reviewing Officer/ Conference Chair.

On receipt of the request the Independent Reviewing Officer / Conference Chair will make a decision. If in agreement, they will end the plan and contact all parties involved in the CPRC to inform them that the plan has ceased as of (date). If the decision is taken to continue with the plan, the Independent Reviewing Officer/ Conference Chair will inform the Social Worker and the scheduled Child Protection Review Conference will be held (or date re-arranged).

Where the Protection Plan has been removed in these situations there must be ongoing multi-professional meetings at a minimum of 6 weekly until the long term plan to keep the child safe is either agreed by the LAC Review or the Court.

Note that Public Law Outline proceedings does not fall under these arrangements and any decision to cease a plan must be taken at a Child Protection Review Conference.