Commentary on Sections Part 2 – Children Order Amendments Section 125: Accommodation for children: requirements
Section 125 amends Article 27 (accommodation and maintenance for children) and Article 28 (Regulations under Article 27) of the Children Order to provide additional regulation making powers.
Paragraph (2)(aa) of Article 27 is amended to insert a power for the Department to make regulations relating to the way in which a looked after child is to be maintained in an appropriate children’s home (subsection (2)). Regulations will specify duties that an authority must undertake in relation to all looked after children, regardless of where they are accommodated, including all types of children’s homes.
Subsection (3) inserts new paragraph (7A) in Article 27 to provide that the Department may by regulations impose requirements which an authority must comply with before making any decision concerning the provision of accommodation for a child it is looking after. This provision is linked to the amendments to Article 28 below.
Subsection (4) amends Article 28 to insert a new paragraph (4) to provide that regulations made under Article 27(7A) may, in particular, impose requirements which an authority must comply with before making a decision concerning the provision of accommodation for a child it is looking after, which could disrupt the child’s education; or before making any decision to provide a looked after child with accommodation outside the authority’s area or, if the child’s welfare requires the immediate provision of accommodation outside the authority’s area, within such period of the accommodation being provided as may be prescribed. Such requirements may, for example, apply when a looked after child is at a key stage in their education and any disruption to their education would have a detrimental impact on them.