The local authority’s Children’s Social Care Services have a statutory duty to carry out a Section 47 Enquiry in any of the following circumstances:
The responsibility for undertaking Section 47 Enquiries lies with the local authority for the area in which the incident occurs, even where the child is ordinarily resident in another local authority’s area.
Where a Section 47 Enquiry is to be conducted in relation to a child who is ordinarily resident in the area of another local authority, her/his home authority should be informed as soon as possible, and be involved as appropriate in the Strategy Discussion/Meeting. In certain cases, it may be agreed that the home authority should undertake the Section 47 Enquiry (for example where the child is Looked After) and in all cases, the home authority should take responsibility for any further support of the child or family identified as necessary.
See also Children Moving Across Boundaries Procedure.
The purpose of the Section 47 Enquiry is to determine whether any further action is required to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child or children who is/are the subject of the Enquiry.
If a decision is made that a Section 47 Enquiry is necessary, it will be conducted by the Children’s Social Care Services alone or jointly with the Police – see Section 7, Single Agency or Joint Enquiry/Investigation.
The decision and plan to carry out the Section 47 Enquiry will be determined at a Strategy Discussion/Meeting.
Children’s Social Care Services managers have the responsibility, based on available information, to authorise Section 47 Enquiries.
The decision to initiate a Section 47 Enquiry is usually taken at a Strategy Discussion/Meeting. However, the Manager may authorise a Section 47 Enquiry at any time whenever the criteria set out in Section 1, Duty to Undertake a Section 47 Enquiry are met, for example:
In reaching her/his conclusion as to the justification for a Section 47 Enquiry, the manager must consider the following variables:
The Section 47 Enquiry may be undertaken jointly with the Police - see Section 7, Single Agency or Joint Enquiry/Investigation.
Any decision made after a Strategy Discussion/Meeting that further child protection action by Children’s Social Care Services and/or the Police is not necessary as there is insufficient evidence of risk of Significant Harm to the child may only be made providing it is agreed by the manager in the Children’s Social Care Services team and the Officer in Charge of the Police Child Abuse Investigation Unit, and the reasons recorded.
Where there is a risk to the life of a child or the likelihood of immediate serious harm, Children’s Social Care Services and/or the Police must act quickly to secure the immediate safety of the child.
The agency taking protective action must always consider whether action is also required to safeguard other children in the same household or in the household of an alleged perpetrator or elsewhere e.g. a workplace involving children.
Emergency action may be necessary as soon as the referral is received or at any point during involvement with children, parents or carers, where there is evidence that the risk to the child is sufficiently acute.
The need for emergency action may become apparent only after time as more is learned about the circumstances of a child or children. Neglect, as well as abuse, can pose such a risk of Significant Harm to a child that urgent protective action is needed.
Responsibility for immediate action rests with the Children’s Social Care Services for the area where the incident occurs, but should be in consultation with the local authority where the child is ordinarily resident, if different.
Immediate protection may be achieved by:
Planned immediate protection will normally take place following an immediate Strategy Discussion between Police, Children’s Social Care Services and other agencies as appropriate. Where a single agency has to act immediately to protect a child, a Strategy Discussion/Meeting should take place as soon as possible after such action to plan next steps.
The social worker must obtain legal advice before initiating legal action and seek the agreement of her/his manager before an Emergency Protection Order is applied for.
Children’s Social Care Services should only seek the assistance of the police to use their powers of Police Protection in exceptional circumstances where there is insufficient time to seek an Emergency Protection Order or other reasons relating to the child’s immediate safety.
All agencies have a duty to assist and provide information in support of Section 47 Enquiries.
Any checks made by Children’s Social Care Services and/or the Police with other agencies should be undertaken directly with involved professionals and not through messages with intermediaries.
The relevant agencies should be informed of the reasons for the Section 47 Enquiry and whether or not parental consent has been obtained, and asked for their assessment of the child in the light of the information presented.
A Core Assessment must be commenced whenever a Section 47 Enquiry is initiated. The Core Assessment must be completed within 35 working days of the Strategy Discussion/Meeting.
The Section 47 Enquiry should begin by focusing primarily on the information identified during the referral and Initial Assessment, which appears most important in relation to the risk of Significant Harm.
The assessment of risk will:
Any contact with the child and family must take into consideration any needs arising from their culture, ethnicity, religion, first language - and provision made accordingly.
This will inform the Core Assessment, which should cover all relevant dimensions in the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families and be alert to the potential needs and safety of siblings or other children in the household or with whom the alleged offender may have had contact.
The Section 47 Enquiry/Core Assessment should be led by a qualified and experienced social worker from Children’s Social Care Services, who will be responsible for its coordination and completion. The social worker must consult with other agencies involved with the child and family in order to obtain a fuller picture of the circumstances of all children in the household, identifying parenting strengths and any risk factors. All agencies consulted are responsible for providing information to assist with the assessment process.
At the same time, where there is a joint enquiry/investigation, the Police will have to establish the facts about any offence that may have been committed against a child and collect evidence - see Section 7, Single Agency or Joint Enquiry/Investigation.
Enquiries and assessment should always involve separate interviews with the child and, in the majority of cases, the parents, and the observation of interaction between the parent and child. Any discussions with children should be conducted in a way that minimises distress; leading or suggestive communication must be avoided and interviews must follow the Achieving Best Evidence guidance - see Section 8, Seeing and Interviewing the Child and Section 9, Parental Involvement and Consent.
Where the child is too young to be interviewed or verbal communication is difficult for any reason, alternative means of understanding the child’s wishes and feelings should be used. Specialist services may be required in order to assist in communicating with the child.
The Strategy Discussion/Meeting will decide if a Section 47 Enquiry is to be single agency or will run concurrently with the Police investigation concerning possible associated crimes.
Children’s Social Care Services single agency enquiries are undertaken in consultation with the Police Child Abuse Investigation Unit and appropriate medical practitioners and will usually be those involving:
Where there have been initial discussions between both agencies but a decision has been taken to pursue the Section 47 Enquiry on a single agency basis, the arrangements for each agency to feed back to each other should be clarified at the Strategy Discussion/Meeting.
If, at any point during the Section 47 Enquiry, it becomes apparent that the joint enquiry/investigation criteria are met, contact should be made with the Police and a joint enquiry/investigation commenced. This may require a further Strategy Discussion or Meeting.
Social workers will therefore need to be aware of the need to:
Police single agency investigations are usually appropriate where:
However, where the alleged offender has contact with children, the Allegations of Abuse Against Persons who Work with Children (including Allegations Against Carers and Volunteers) Procedure will apply.
Where the Police undertake a single agency criminal investigation, the Police are responsible for all the associated investigative activities, such as conducting interviews of witnesses and suspects, visiting crime scenes and, in conjunction with the social worker, arranging medical assessments.
During a Police investigation, the investigating Police officer must assess the risks posed by the alleged offender, consider the ongoing needs of any child victim and his/her family and make a referral to Children’s Social Care Services as appropriate, for example for supportive and therapeutic services.
If during the course of a Police investigation, it emerges that parental deficiencies in the care of a child have significantly contributed to the alleged offence, Children’s Social Care Services should be contacted and a joint enquiry/investigation commenced.
If during the course of a Police investigation, a risk to other children is identified, the need for a joint enquiry/investigation should be discussed with Children’s Social Care Services.
Where there have been initial discussions between both agencies but a decision has been taken to pursue a Police single agency investigation, the arrangements for the agencies to feed back to each other should be clarified at the outset.
On occasions, in urgent criminal cases (critical incidents), the Police may conduct a single agency investigation out of hours as a result of their duty to respond and take initial action to protect either a child or criminal evidence.
If this occurs, Children’s Social Care Services must be informed as soon as possible and a joint investigation commenced if appropriate.
Joint enquiries/investigations are conducted by Children’s Social Care Services (who have responsibility for carrying out the Section 47 Enquiry) and the Police (who have responsibility for carrying out the criminal investigation).
A joint enquiry/investigation must always commence following a Strategy Discussion/Meeting when there is an allegation or reasonable suspicion that one of the criminal offences described below has been committed:
A joint Section 47 Enquiry/Police investigation must also be considered in cases of:
For other cases of minor injury, the following factors must be considered in determining the seriousness of the allegation or concerns and whether the threshold for joint enquiry/investigation has been met:
Disputes about the threshold for joint enquiry/investigation must be resolved between senior managers of the agencies involved.
Following a full assessment of the available facts, the Police and/or Crown Prosecution Service may decide at any stage to terminate a criminal investigation and will inform the social worker of the decision immediately.
All children within the household must be directly communicated with during a Section 47 Enquiry to enable an assessment of their safety to be made.
The children who are the focus of concern should be seen alone, subject to their age and willingness, preferably with parental permission (see Section 9, Parental Involvement and Consent). Children of an appropriate age and understanding should be told what is to happen and given any written information as appropriate.
Their agreement to the process should be sought (see 8.5.1 - The Child’s Consent to Video Interview in relation to video interviews) and any non-agreement on their part should be respected.
It may be necessary to provide information to the child in stages and this must be taken into account in planning the Section 47 Enquiry.
Explanations given to the child should be brought up to date as the Section 47 Enquiry progresses. In no circumstances should the child be left wondering what is happening and why.
Children’s Social Care Services and the Police must ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place to support the child through the joint enquiry/investigation. An adult – usually a parent, carer, relative or friend - should be identified to accompany and support the child through the process. The most suitable person for the role will be dependent on the circumstances, taking into account the wishes and feelings of the child.
Specialist help may be needed if:
The objectives in seeing the child are to:
The Strategy Discussion/Meeting must decide where, when and how the child or children should be seen and if a video interview is required (see 8.4).
The aim of the interview is to obtain a truthful account from the child in a way which is fair, in the child’s interests and acceptable to the Courts.
Where an interview is to take place, in order to avoid undermining any subsequent criminal case, any contact with a child prior to the interview must be conducted under Achieving Best Evidence guidance and staff must:
If efforts to see and communicate with the child or children within the timescales agreed at the Strategy Discussion/Meeting are unsuccessful, then the social worker and, where relevant, the Police officer should:
See also Missing Children and Families Procedure
If efforts to see and communicate with the child or children within the timescales agreed at the Strategy Discussion/Meeting are unsuccessful, then the social worker and, where relevant, the Police officer should:
See also Missing Children and Families Procedure
Video interviews involving Children’s Social Care Services and the Police should proceed if all the criteria in Part I are met and any of the criteria in Part II are met:
Part I
Part II
Contra-indications for conducting a video interview are:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The video recording of interviews of children may only be carried out with the consent of the child her/himself. Prior to the interview taking place, the child must be provided with sufficient information at a level appropriate to her/his understanding to enable her/him to give informed consent. Such information would include the fact that the video could be shown to a Court instead of the child having to give his/her evidence directly and that, whether a video recording is made or not, he or she might have to attend court to answer questions directly. In the case of a child who is too young to understand fully, a parent or a person with Parental Responsibility must usually be asked to give consent on behalf of the child – see paragraph 8.5.2 |
||
|
|
|
|
The consent of a parent or a person with Parental Responsibility is required for interviews of children under 16, unless the following exceptional circumstances exist:
In the latter three cases, interviews must not take place until all other means of seeking consent have been eliminated and then only after a joint decision between the Detective Inspector and the relevant manager in Children’s Social Care Services. A record must be made of any decisions taken and the reasons for it. When it is decided to interview the child without seeking the consent of the parents, the decision must be endorsed by the social worker’s line manager. Legal advice must be taken as to whether any legal action is required before an interview can take place, for example, an application for a Child Assessment Order or in more urgent cases, an Emergency Protection Order. The short-term gains of such an approach must be set against the possible consequences to the professional relationship with the family and considered in the context of the Human Rights Act 1998 and its requirements for a ‘proportionate’ response by public authorities. In all cases, legal advice should be sought where there is any doubt about the issue of parental consent |
||
|
|
|
| In all cases where there are ongoing Court proceedings in relation to the child, legal advice should be obtained as to the obtaining of the Court’s consent to the interview. | ||
|
|
|
In most cases, parents should be enabled to participate fully in the assessment and enquiry process, which should be explained to them verbally and also in writing. Where a parent has additional needs e.g. are disabled, they should be offered support to participate in the assessment. If English is not their first language, an interpreter must be provided.
Consideration should be given to the capacity of the parents to understand the information shared in a situation of anxiety and stress.
The parents should be involved at the earliest opportunity unless to do so would compromise the safety of the child. The needs and safety of the child will be paramount when determining at what point parents or carers are given information. Parents should be kept informed throughout about the enquiry, its outcome and any subsequent action unless this would jeopardise the welfare of the child.
In explaining the process of a Section 47 Enquiry to parents, the following points should be covered:
The social worker must consult her/his manager so that s/he can decide on the basis of available information, whether to seek parental consent to undertake inter-agency checks. This will usually have already been discussed during the Initial Assessment and at the Strategy Discussion/Meeting.
In addition, the social worker must consult his/her manager about whether parental consent should be sought for an interview with and/or medical assessment of a child.
See also Section 8.5.2, Parental consent to a child’s video interview and Section 10.3, Parental consent to a child’s medical assessment.
If a decision is made not to seek parental permission, the reasons must be recorded and this may include:
When it is decided to interview and/or arrange a medical assessment of the child without seeking the consent of the parents, the decision must be endorsed by the social worker’s line manager. Legal advice must be taken as to whether any legal action is required before an interview and/or medical assessment can take place, for example, an application for a Child Assessment Order or in more urgent cases, an Emergency Protection Order.
The parent or carer must be informed as soon as practicable and consistent with the best interests of the child.
Where parental consent is sought but refused, the social worker’s manager must determine whether to proceed, and if so, record the reasons. Where there are reasonable grounds to believe that a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, Significant Harm, and access is refused, Children’s Social Care Services have a duty to apply for:
unless it is satisfied that the child’s welfare can be safeguarded without doing so.
Strategy Discussions/Meetings must consider, in consultation with the Consultant Paediatrician (if not part of the discussion or meeting), the need for and timing of a medical assessment. Consideration must also be given as to whether there are any other children in the household who may also require a medical assessment.
Medical assessments should always be considered necessary where there has been a disclosure or there is a suspicion of any form of abuse to a child.
Additional considerations are the need to:
In cases of severe neglect, physical injury or penetrative sexual abuse, the assessment should be undertaken on the day of the referral, where compatible with the welfare of the child.
Only Consultant Paediatricians who are suitably trained to carry out this type of medical examination may physically examine the child for the purposes of a medical assessment. A duty rota for Consultant Paediatricians is available at the Manor Hospital.
Other staff should note any visible marks or injuries on a body map and document details in their recording.
The purpose of a medical assessment is:
See also General Medical Council Guidance for Doctors on 0 to 18 year olds.
The following may give consent to a medical assessment:
Where the child is the subject of ongoing Court proceedings, legal advice should be obtained about obtaining the Court’s permission to the medical assessment.
It is generally good practice to seek wherever possible the permission of a parent for children under 16 prior to any medical assessment and/or other medical treatment even if the child is judged to be of sufficient understanding to give consent in their own right. If this is not considered possible or appropriate, then the reasons should be clearly recorded.
When a child is Looked After and a parent/carer has given general consent authorising medical treatment for the child, legal advice must be taken about whether this provides consent for medical assessment for child protection purposes (the parent/carer still has full parental responsibility for the child).
A child who is of sufficient understanding may refuse some or all of the medical assessment, although refusal can potentially be overridden by a court.
In emergency situations where the child needs urgent medical treatment and there is insufficient time to obtain parental consent:
In these circumstances, parents must be informed as soon as possible and a full record must be made at the time.
In non-emergency situations, when parental permission is not obtained, the social worker and manager must seek legal advice - see Section 9.2.
Medical assessments must take into account the need for both specialist paediatric expertise and forensic requirements in relation to the gathering of evidence.
In Walsall, only suitably trained Consultant Paediatricians will undertake medical assessments carried out as part of a Section 47 Enquiry.
There should be only one medical examination of the child.
Referrals for medical assessments should be made by the social worker, who should contact the on call Consultant Paediatrician and also make him/her aware of the circumstances of the case. A Consultant Paediatrician is available for consultation at all times – the rota is held at the Manor Hospital.
Consideration should be given to the gender of the examining doctor in consultation with the child and the parents.
The Police will arrange attendance of a Police surgeon if required.
Where child sexual abuse is suspected, usually two doctors with complimentary skills will conduct a joint medical assessment. A single doctor may carry out the assessment where he or she has the necessary knowledge, skills and experience for the particular case. For further guidance, see Guidance on Paediatric Forensic Examinations in relation to possible child sexual abuse, September 2004, issued by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the Association of Forensic Physicians.
The extent of any questioning of the child by the doctor will depend on the type of abuse and the age and understanding of the child.
In planning the medical assessment, the social worker, the manager responsible, the Police Child Abuse Investigation Unit and relevant Consultant Paediatrician/Police Surgeon must consider whether it might be necessary to take photographic evidence for use in care or criminal proceedings. Where such arrangements are necessary, the child and parents must be informed and prepared and careful consideration given to the impact on the child.
If the child refuses to be examined or becomes distressed during the examination, consideration must be given to arranging a further examination.
Disclosure of the information contained in the report to the parent(s) of the child and/or the child should be agreed in consultation with Children’s Social Care Services and the Police.
The report should include:
All reports and diagrams should be signed and dated by the Consultant Paediatrician undertaking the examination.
If criminal or family proceedings are instituted, the Consultant Paediatrician’s written report will be filed and served as his or her statement of evidence. The Consultant Paediatrician’s attendance at subsequent Court hearings may also be required.
The Section 47 Enquiry is concluded at the point when an informed decision is made taking account of all information available as to whether the child is at continuing risk of Significant Harm or not.
The Section 47 Enquiry will result in one of three possible outcomes:
In all cases, the outcome must be authorised by a Children’s Social Care Services team manager.
In relation to 2 and 3 above, a meeting of involved professionals and family members must be convened at the end of the Section 47 Enquiry/Core Assessment to agree what actions should be undertaken by whom and with what outcomes for the child’s health and development. Such a meeting is also important to inform parents about the nature of any on-going concerns.
The need for a Child’s Plan should be kept under review. Consideration may also be given to holding a Family Group Conference.
Any Child’s Plan should:
Where an Initial Child Protection Conference is to be held, the Children’s Social Care Services team manager must ensure that the necessary steps are taken to convene the conference within 15 working days of the Strategy Discussion/Meeting where the decision to initiate the Section 47 Enquiry was made.
The Children’s Social Care Services team manager or the social worker must contact the Review and Child Protection Unit via email with the date and time for the Initial Child Protection Conference and a list of attendees. For more detailed in relation to the arrangements, see Initial Child Protection Conference Procedure.
In the time between the conclusion of the Section 47 Enquiry and the Initial Child Protection Conference, services must be in place to ensure that the child is protected until the Conference is held.
In planning such services, consideration should be given to the following:
Any decision to discontinue a Section 47 Enquiry should be taken by the team manager in Children’s Social Care Services in consultation with the Police (and where appropriate other involved agencies and in particular the referring agency) after checks have been completed, and be taken in a flexible manner when it is clear that the criteria for Section 47 Enquiry are not satisfied.
This decision should be authorised and recorded by the Children’s Social Care Services team manager who should record the reasons and whether the Core Assessment should be completed.
The outcome of any Section 47 Enquiry and the reasons for the decisions must be recorded. The child (if appropriate), parents and the professionals involved should all receive a copy of this record.
Rough notes must also be retained by practitioners until the completion of any anticipated legal proceedings.
The social worker’s manager should also ensure that the outcome has been entered on the child’s chronology.
Where an Initial Child Protection Conference is to be convened the decisions and outcome of the Section 47 Enquiry must be included in the conference report.
Feedback on the outcome of a Section 47 Enquiry should be provided to non-professional referrers in a manner that respects the confidentiality and welfare of the child and family
Information to parents and children should be relayed in an appropriate format and translated for those people whose first language is not English.
Children’s Social Care Services should ensure that parents, children (depending on their level of understanding), professionals and other agencies which have involvement are notified in writing of the outcome of Section 47 Enquiries within 48 hours of the decision being made.
If there are ongoing criminal investigations, the content of the notification should be agreed with the Police.
Where there remain differences of views, for example about a decision that an Initial Child Protection Conference is not required, every effort should be made to resolve them through discussion and negotiation.
Where a disagreement cannot be resolved the relevant staff should immediately notify their line managers. The line managers should ascertain the specific circumstances of the disagreement and contact should occur between agencies within 24 hours. The purpose of this contact is to review the available information and to resolve the concern. Where necessary this may involve a meeting between the managers. Any agreed plan arising from this contact should be fed back immediately to the operational staff involved, confirmed in writing between agencies and include a date for review.
Where a senior manager from another agency requests that an Initial Child Protection Conference is convened, this request will be given serious consideration by the Operations Manager of the Review and Child Protection Unit and a response will be given in writing. Any request that is supported by a senior manager, Named Professional or Designated Professional, should normally be agreed.
Where any issue of professional difference is not resolved, see Resolving Professional Disagreements Procedure.
End