Re M (a child) (secure accommodation order) [2008] EWHC 1085 (Fam), [2008] All ER (D) 389 (Jun)
A free standing application cannot be made for an interim secure accommodation order. The power to make an interim order only arises under s 25(5) of the Children Act 1989 if the court adjourns the hearing of the local authority’s application.
The preliminary procedural question for the court on any application for a secure accommodation order is whether to proceed to determine the application or whether to adjourn it. If the court is satisfied it has all the information that it needs to determine the issues raised by the application and that it would be procedurally fair to proceed, then it is likely that there will be no grounds upon which the court can properly adjourn the substan-tive application.
In those circumstances the court must proceed to determine the application for the secure accommodation order. If the court decides to adjourn the application, then the period of adjournment should be the minimum necessary to ensure the factors justifying an adjournment are addressed.
The function and role of the children’s guardian within secure accommodation proceedings is to provide assistance to the court with the issues raised by the application. It is not to oversee the exercise by the local authority of its statutory duties, nor to perform a free-standing welfare role for the benefit of the child.
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