The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 (Statutory Instrument 2010/959)

Authority
These Regulations are made under sections 22C, 23ZA, 23ZB, 23D, 23E, 25A, 25B, 26, 31A and 34 of, and paragraphs 12A to 12E, 12F, 12G and 19B of Schedule 2, to the Children Act 1989

General Description
These Regulations impose a wide range of obligations upon local authorities and others, such as Independent Reviewing Officers, in relation to care planning for children who are looked after by English local authorities. The Regulations come into force on 1 April 2011.

Description of Parts
Part 1 – General:  defines key terms used in the Regulations and disapply the Regulations in relation to looked-after children who are placed for adoption.

Part 2 – Arrangements for looking after a child: requires every looked-after child to have a care plan, makes provision for healthcare assessments and regulates a local authority’s power to limit contact with a child in its case.

Part 3 – Placements: General Provision: requires placement plans to be produced, imposes restrictions on an authority’s freedoms to choose a type of placement for a child, sets out placement notification requirements and controls the manner in which placements may be terminated.

Part 4 – Provision for different types of placement: this Part contains special rules for particular types of placement, namely placements with a parent, a local authority foster parent and in an unregulated setting.

Part 5 – Visits by the responsible authority’s representative

Part 6 –Review of the child’s case: this Part sets out how reviews of children’s cases are to be carried out and imposes obligation on local authorities in relation to the implementation of decisions resulting from reviews.

Part 7 – Arrangements made by the responsible authority for ceasing to look after a child: this Part replaces the ‘eligible child’ provisions of the Children (Leaving Care) (England) Regulations 2001.