Press releases

BAAF statement on Placement Orders: Good practice to be followed by local authorities faced with application for leave to apply for revocation

Issued: 1 May 2008

The Court of Appeal has set out clear guidelines for good practice in responding to applications for leave to apply to revoke a placement order when such a move coincides with a proposed placement with prospective adopters. Although section 24(5) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 does not prohibit a placement while an application for leave is pending, the local authority in the case (Re F [2008] EWCA Civ 439) was strongly criticised for the manner in which it continued with its plan of introductions and placement of an 18 month old child in spite of being aware that the father had instructed solicitors to apply for leave to revoke the placement order, and that his application was in fact due to be heard the very day following the placement. The Court of Appeal reluctantly dismissed the father’s appeal against the refusal to grant his application, because section 24 only permits an application for revocation to proceed if the child has not been placed for adoption. It urged however that all agencies be made aware of what should be good practice in such an event, pointing out that it was open to a local authority concerned with the adverse effect on the child of delaying a proposed placement to ask the court to deal with the matter urgently. It would also be advisable for those representing parents in these circumstances to ask for an undertaking from the local authority not to place the child until the case had been heard, failing which they should seek an injunction from the court. Proceeding with a placement in these circumstances also puts the prospective adopters in an unenviable position.

The case will be reported in the next edition of Adoption & Fostering, and the judgment is available on http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2008/439.html

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Notes to editors:

1. For more information, please call BAAF press office on 020 7421 2632/3 or email esther.freeman@baaf.org.uk. For out of hours enquiries, call the press office mobile on 07767 444 589.
2. BAAF is one of the UK’s leading charities for children in care. We provide services to meet the needs of some of the UK’s most vulnerable children and young people. In 2006/2007 we helped place 486 children through Be My Parent and the Adoption Register, sold 42,500 books on adoption and fostering, and ran 2,000 workshops and training units UK-wide. For more information visit www.baaf.org.uk