ABSTRACT
The earliest opportunity that the local authority could apply for a care order is immediately the child is born. Prior to that it has no legal personality and so the application could not be made.
A care order may only be granted if the threshold criteria in section 31 of the Children Act 1989 are met. These are that the child is or is likely to suffer significant harm and the harm or its likelihood are due to the care given to him or likely to be given to him not being what it would be reasonable to expect a parent to give to him, or that the child is beyond parental control.
