But the laws will remain in place until the end of September as planned and councils can still relax their duties to vulnerable children when they have “strong justification”, children’s minister Vicky Ford has said.
Some restrictions may also be extended beyond September, the government has confirmed.
-
Analysis: Changes to care responsibilities divides opinion among leaders
-
Analysis: Timeline for relaxation of social care duties
In a written parliamentary statement, Ford said that the emergency legislation was brought in during the pandemic in anticipation of councils finding it impossible to meet their duties, due to staff shortages and sickness.
But “our monitoring has shown that the majority of the regulatory flexibilities have been rarely used and only when needed in response to coronavirus”, said Ford.
“Out of 128 local authorities we have spoken with in June and July, 87 have used at least one regulation, although many have only used them on a limited number of occasions and in a limited number of areas.”
With lockdown measures eased she said “there is significantly reduced need for local authorities and providers to use these flexibilities”.
“I therefore intend to update guidance immediately to make it clear that there should no longer be a need to use most of these flexibilities and will be writing to local authorities and providers accordingly,” she said.
“Where they do use flexibilities, local authorities and providers should ensure that they have strong justification.”
The changes were introduced through the Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, also known as Statutory Instrument 445.
They were brought in without a usual 21-day consultation and parliamentary scrutiny process and will not expire until 25 September. While most will end on this date, Ford said that “a very small number of temporary changes” could be extended further.
This includes giving more time for medical reports for foster carers and adoptive parents and allowing virtual visits by social workers to still take place.
Shadow children’s minister Tulip Siddiq has criticised the government’s decision not to scrap Statutory Instrument 445 immediately.
Simply amending guidance is not good enough when it is the law that is preventing children in care from getting the support they need right now.
— Tulip Siddiq (@TulipSiddiq) July 14, 2020
If the Govt believes that these regulations are not necessary, they must be scrapped before summer recess.https://t.co/NBGYUkaBNY
Children’s right’s charity Article 39 is also calling for the emergency legislation to be scrapped and young people’s legal protection to be reinstated.
Last month, Article 39 was granted a judicial review against the Department for Education over its removal of statutory duties for vulnerable children. This centred around a lack of consultation, introducing legislation contrary to the 1989 Children Act and education secretary Gavin Williamson breaching his duty to promote the wellbeing of children in England.
Carolyne Willow, Article 39’s director, said: “Of course it’s a relief that the government has confirmed that most of these radical changes won’t survive into October, but that doesn’t help children in care today who are desperately vulnerable and need to have their legal protections given back to them.
“The children’s minister says she is going to tell local authorities not to apply the majority of the regulatory changes made overnight in April, when what she should have done is withdrawn them altogether. If there are a few uncontentious, temporary legal changes which are genuinely required to safeguard and promote the welfare of children during the pandemic, then government has the power to take such action.
“The evidence we are submitting to the High Court shows that the ongoing risks to children of maintaining the regulatory changes are very serious indeed. Obviously so long as Statutory Instrument 445 remains in place, it is impossible to properly hold local authorities to account for failing to meet legal duties which existed before 24 April.”
The emergency legislation relaxed around 65 protections for children including the standard of care in children’s homes and checks and balances around adoption and fostering processes.
