(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations apply to England only.
These Regulations make amendments to 10 sets of Regulations to relax and amend requirements imposed under them. The amendments are being made in order to assist the children’s social care sector during the coronavirus pandemic and cease to have effect on the 25th September 2020.
They amend the Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005 which set out the process for assessing the suitability of people to adopt a child and the suitability of children to be adopted. They remove the duty on adoption agencies to refer cases to the adoption panel, make some amendments to the adopter approval process, to enable information that currently has to be collected during stage 1 of the approval process to be collected during stage 2, and relax some timescales within which adoption agencies must take steps.
They amend the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 which set out the requirements of the care planning process. They make it possible for any person to be approved as a local authority foster carer for a temporary period (not just a person who is a relative, friend or person connected to the child) and extend the length of that period from 16 to 24 weeks. They also increase the length of time a foster carer can be approved as an emergency foster carer to 24 weeks. A number of timescales within which local authorities must take steps are also relaxed.
They amend the Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 which set out the process for approvals as local authority foster parents. They relax some timescales within which fostering agencies must take steps and remove the duty on fostering service providers to refer cases to the fostering panel.
They amend the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 to ensure that they don’t prohibit a child being deprived of their liberty in a children’s home in accordance with an exercise of powers under Schedule 21 to the Coronavirus Act 2020. A number of timescales are also relaxed.
They amend the Residential Family Centres Regulations 2002 to relax some timescales and to make it clear that interviews need not be conducted face-to-face.
They amend Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Fees and Frequency of Inspections) (Children’s Homes etc) Regulations 2015 to omit regulation 27 which sets out the frequency by which premises must be inspected.
They amend the Children (Private Arrangements for Fostering) Regulations 2005, the Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006, the Education and Inspections Act 2006 (Inspection of Local Authorities) Regulations 2007 and the Children Act 2004 (Joint Area Reviews) Regulations 2015 to relax timescales within which local authorities must take steps.
The Regulations also include a number of savings provisions to ensure that some amendments made by these Regulations continue to apply in certain circumstances after the expiry of the amendments on 25th September 2020.
The Secretary of State must review the effectiveness of the amendments made by these Regulations during the period in which the amendments have effect.
An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument no, or no significant, impact on the private or voluntary sector is foreseen.
An Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside this instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk