The charity, Family Rights Group is running a campaign to highlight these orders, which can be made by the family court if a local authority is concerned about risks to the child’s safety or the safety of others. Backing the campaign last week, the Law Society also expressed concern about the lack of legal aid for families.
Statistics published by Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (NFJO) in September showed 1,249 children were subject to the orders in the year to June 2023. The NFJO found that 88.5% of parents and carers were not represented at any hearings in applications made under the High Court’s jurisdiction. NFJO also reported children were sent more than 56 miles away on average to children’s homes, care home services or unregulated placements.
Deprivation of Liberty Orders allow for children to be placed under severe restrictions. There was a 462% increase in these cases in the three years to 2020/21.
Law Society president Nick Emmerson said: ‘A parent whose child is subject to care proceedings is entitled to non-means-tested legal aid.
‘However, the same cannot be said for deprivation of liberty cases. Families are instead faced with a stringent means and merits test to establish if they can receive legal aid.
‘We call on the government to remove these barriers.’
Emmerson said: ‘The family court system is facing an increase in deprivation of liberty cases due to a reduction in the number of children in youth custody, a rise in the number of older children coming into care, falling numbers of inpatient child mental health beds and the closure of secure children’s homes.’
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