TORBAY SOCIAL SERVICES POLICY SUPERVISION ORDERS

Supervision Order

Policy statement

Children’s services policy is to utilise appropriate measures under the Children Act 1989 to protect children who are suffering or likely to suffer from significant harm.

Policy status

• Children Act 1989

Key Points

1. A supervision order does not give parental responsibility to a local authority.
2. The grounds for an application are the same as for a care order; the court must be satisfied that the child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm either as a result of receiving care that it would not be reasonable to expect a parent to give or as a result of the child being beyond parental control. Harm can be defined as ‘ill treatment or the impairment of health or development’. Health includes physical or mental health and development includes physical, social, emotional, behavioural and intellectual development.
3. Ill-treatment includes sexual abuse and form of ill treatment which are not physical including, for example, impairment suffered from seeing or hearing the ill treatment of another.
4. There is no clear definition of ‘significant’.
5. The applicant will need to show that what the parent is doing, or not doing, in respect to the particular child and their needs is unreasonable in comparison to what would normally be expected for a similar child.
6. It is important that proper plans are made and carried out when a supervision order has been made.
7. A supervision order application cannot be made on a child who is seventeen or older or on a child who is sixteen if the child is married.
8. Supervision orders can be made with respect to a child who is subject to a residence, or any other s8 order and the granting of a supervision order will not, in itself, end the other orders.
9. A supervision order puts the child under the supervision of a designated local authority.  The supervisor has the following duties:
   • to advise, assist and (where appropriate) befriend the child,
   • to take all reasonable steps to see that the order is effected,
   • to consider whether to apply for a variation or a discharge of an order.
10. Directions can be attached to a supervision order relating to the child; for example, ensuring the child attends for health checks or participates in activities.
11. A supervision order lasts for up to one year and can be renewed for a further two years.
12. The local authority, any person with parental responsibility or the child can apply for a supervision order to be varied or discharged. 
13. An interim supervision order can be made. The first can last for up to 56 days and 28 days thereafter. 

Standards

• A supervision order should only be considered where no order, or any other lesser order, can be deemed to be inappropriate to the situation.
• Before court proceedings are commenced or before a recommendation for an order is made in existing proceedings the social worker must convene an internal legal discussion meeting.

Supervision order procedure

Task	Responsible officer		Record		Timescale
Agree whether care proceedings appear to be necessary.	Service manager and social worker		PARIS		As appropriate
If agreed telephone legal services for a discussion.	Social worker, service manager.		PARIS		As soon as possible
Organise an internal legal discussion meeting to be chaired by an operations manager, attended by legal services, social worker, service manager and any other relevant children’s services social care staff.	Social worker or service manager		PARIS		As soon as possible
Prepare report to cover family composition, background, current situation and analysis.	Social worker		PARIS		Five days before the internal legal discussion meeting
Hold an internal legal discussion meeting. This will decide whether the threshold is met, agree an in principle decision whether or not an application should be made and any other steps that should be taken.	Operations manager		PARIS		As soon as possible
If the conclusion of the meeting is that care proceedings may be appropriate set a date for a legal family meeting and draft a ‘letter before action’ to parents. This letter should include, the date, time and venue of the legal family meeting; the fact that they should be represented; the reasons for the recommendation; and what needs to change to avoid care proceedings.	Operations manager		PARIS		At the end of the meeting
If an emergency follow legal services advice. Otherwise follow the procedures below.	N/A		N/A		N/A
Provide record of meeting, decisions and recommendation.	Operations manager		Minutes via e-mail PARIS		Within two working days
Hold the legal family meeting as proposed in the ‘letter before action’ between the parents, social worker, service manager, legal services and the parents’ representatives to clarify the local authority’s concerns and agree a plan of action to avoid care proceedings if possible.	Service manager		PARIS		As appropriate
Consider the views of the people at the legal family meeting and decide what action to take. If not care proceedings then develop a plan with the family. If care proceedings then convene a legal consultation meeting.	Social worker, service manager and legal services		PARIS		As appropriate
Hold the legal consultation meeting, chaired by the service manager, which will include all the people from the legal family meeting plus any other multi-agency professionals relevant to the case and decide what action to take. If not care proceedings then develop a plan with the family. If care proceedings then follow the procedure detailed below.	Service manager		Minutes on PARIS		As appropriate
Prepare, collate and send to legal services the following documents; statement, up to date chronology, interim care plan/arrangements for care, any previous court orders and judgments, any initial and core assessments, any s7 or s37 reports, family tree, any plans from family group conference, any relevant documents from other agencies, any minutes of any meetings with the family, any child protection conference minutes and reports given to conference, any strategy discussion records, any existing care plans, any other assessments; including residential or community based assessments of parents or other family members, i.e. viability (initial screening)/full assessments.	Social worker		PARIS		As soon as possible
Prepare and collate: Application form C1, PLO1, C13, Allocation record and timetable for child, Schedule of proposed findings/threshold, Letter before action	Legal services/ social worker		C13PLO1C1		As soon as possible after previous step but within ten working days
File application with the relevant documents with the court.	Legal services		Legal services system		Immediately
Serve the relevant documents on the respondents and inform the social worker and service manager of the court time, date and venue.	Legal services		C9		Immediately once notification has been received
Inform the following, (if they are not already aware): the child, (dependent upon age and understanding),any other person caring for the child, any other relevant person, before the hearing of the application.	Social worker		PARIS		Within one working day
Attend court for first appointment.	All relevant staff		PARIS		By day six of the case
Carry out any relevant actions identified at the first appointment.	All relevant staff		PARIS		As appropriate
Ensure everyone knows what has happened and what needs to happen next.		Legal representative	Attendance note and covering memo	At court or soon afterwards
Hold advocates meeting to discuss the progress of the case, identify areas of agreement or disagreement and, if possible, agree a draft directions order for the case management conference.		Legal representatives	Attendance note	No later than two days before the case management conference
Be available to give instructions to their representative at the advocates meeting.		Social worker	PARIS	On the day
File draft case management order.		Legal services		By 11am on the working day before the case management conference
Attend case management conference.		Social worker, service manager, legal representative	Attendance note	Court will fix but it will be by day 45 of the case
Carry out any relevant actions identified at the case management conference which may include preparing final evidence and care plan.		Social worker service manager, legal services	PARIS	As appropriate
If all assessments completed hold legal consultation meeting to clarify the likely final plan and identifying any further issues to be determined.		Social worker, service manager, legal services	Minutes	After assessments have been completed in advance of the advocates meeting which precedes the issues resolution hearing
Hold advocates meeting.		Advocates	Attendance note	No later than two working days prior to issues resolution hearing
Be available to give instructions to their representative at the advocates meeting.		Social worker	Attendance note	On the day
File draft case management order.		Legal services	Legal file	By 11am on the working day before the issues resolution hearing
Attend issues resolution hearing		Social worker, service manager, legal representative	Attendance note	On the day
Comply with any outstanding directions		Social worker	PARIS	As appropriate
Attend final hearing		Social worker, sometimes service manager, legal representative	Attendance notes	As appropriate
Record any final orders and directions that are made and carry out any actions that may be required.		Social worker service manager	PARIS	Immediately