ABSTRACT
The Children Act completely recasts and restructures the law of care and supervision. The central importance of the new ground cannot be overestimated as it is now the only procedure through which compulsory long-term intervention can be triggered. A care order entitles a local authority to take over the care of a child possibly for good. Once significant harm or its likelihood has been proved, only one further element of the threshold criteria needs to be satisfied, which is that the harm is attributable to lack of reasonable parental care or the child being beyond parental control. Under the old law the legal effect of a care order was uncertain and confusing. Interim supervision orders are governed by Section 38 which also governs interim care orders. A care order can no longer be obtained on educational grounds alone.
