ABSTRACT
This is an area of law and practice where the Children Act (CA) 1989 has effected major changes. Instead of (as formerly) simply taking into care every child who is not being properly looked after (and usually resisting the return of that child to its inadequate parents), the local authority is now statutorily compelled to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within its area who are in need, and (so far as it is consistent with that duty) to promote the upbringing of children by their families, by providing a range and level of services appropriate to those children’s needs (s 17(1)). This range of services includes a duty under s 20 of the Act to provide temporary accommodation, as an alternative to the former duty of provision of care or supervision under a formal order. This significant shift of emphasis underlines the change in the character of the local authority, which is thus transformed by the CA 1989, in theory at least, from ogre to fairy godmother.
