The Visits to Children in Long-Term Residential Care Regulations 2011

Reports of visits

5.—(1) R must provide a written report of each visit to the responsible local authority.

(2) R’s report must include R’s assessment of—

(a) A’s wishes and feelings about the accommodation, so far as R has been able to ascertain them,

(b) whether A’s welfare is adequately safeguarded and promoted,

(c) whether further visits by R, in addition to those set out in regulation 3(1) or (2), are required in order to safeguard and promote A’s welfare,

(d) any services which R considers appropriate to be made available with a view to promoting contact between A and A’s family, and

(e) any other steps that should be taken by the responsible local authority exercising its functions under the 1989 Act to safeguard and promote A’s welfare(1).

(3) The responsible local authority must give a copy of the report to—

(a) A, unless it would not be appropriate to do so, having regard to A’s age and understanding,

(b) any parent of A’s and any person who is not A’s parent but who has parental responsibility(2) for A unless to do so would place A at risk of significant harm,

(c) where different from the responsible local authority, the local authority in whose area A is accommodated, and

(d) any other person with responsibility for safeguarding and promoting A’s welfare under the 1989 Act.

(1)

Every responsible local authority which has been notified has a duty, under section 85(4) or 86(3) of the 1989 Act, to: (i) take such steps as are reasonably practicable to enable it to determine whether A’s welfare is adequately safeguarded and promoted whilst A is accommodated; and (ii) to consider the extent to which it should exercise any of its functions under the 1989 Act with respect to A.

(2)

“Parental responsibility” is defined in section 3 of the 1989 Act and means “all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property”.