Secure accommodation and deprivation cases involving children

Secure accommodation and deprivation cases involving children is a very niche area of law. It continues to be complex and challenging at all levels for professionals and requires skillful handling. Adding to the challenge is the scarcity of available units, necessitating diverse approaches to ensure a child’s welfare. This webinar will offer guidance on running such cases, whether for the applicant or respondent, within the contexts of both England and Wales.

Topics include:

•  Secure accommodation orders in children cases:  Exploring how these operate.
•  Impact of secure criteria review:  Analysing its influence on decision-making, referencing Borough Council v E and Others (No 2) (Refusal of Secure Accommodation Order) [2021] EWHC 2699 (Fam).
•  Addressing unit shortage:  Guidance from the President of the Family Division on placing a child in an unregistered children’s home; and strategies outlined in Re X (Secure Accommodation: Lack of Provision) [2023] EWHC 129 (Fam).
•  Unregulated accommodation for under-16s:  Addressing placement scenarios.
•  Implications of care planning regulations:  Analysing the impact of Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 and an examination of Tameside MBC v AM and others [2021] EWHC 2472 (Fam).
•  Defining deprivation of liberty (DoL):  Evaluating situations where consent of the child is at issue, referencing Re T (A Child) [2021] UKSC 35.
•  Procedure for DoL orders:  Navigating the application process.
•  The need for DoL authorisation:  Understanding the implications if it is not sought, with reference to NHS Trust v ST (Refusal of Deprivation of Liberty Order) [2022] EWHC 719 (Fam).
•  Mobile phones and DoL: with reference to LA v CP and DT and P [2023] EWHC 133 (Fam).