The myth that the local authority (LA) gets to have 51% of mothers’ and fathers’ parental responsibility (PR) when they engage with a family about the welfare of their child is just that, a myth.
The local authority and the social workers who are assigned to your family never have what parents believe is a majority share in the duties that come with taking care of their child.
Parental responsibility is a legal term which refers to the duties every parent or carer has when looking after a child. It is not about having rights over a child.
The term parental responsibility is set out in S.3 of the Children Act 1989 which defines PR as:
“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”.
The local authority does not automatically get to share those duties with natural parents just because they are talking to the family or have agreed to accommodate their child under a voluntary section 20 agreement.
The only times a local authority can share PR with natural parents is if the court has granted an interim care order or a final care order.
If the local authority wants to share PR with a child’s natural parents, it will have to issue care proceedings and apply for an interim care order first.
When a court grants a local authority one of these care orders, natural parents do not lose their PR, they now share it with the local authority, and they share it equally.
The local authority should never make important decisions about a child without speaking to the child’s parents first.
This means that any important decisions about the child must be made with the child’s natural parents. These include decisions about:
- Schooling and education in general
- Food and nutritional needs
- Religious and cultural practices
- Choosing, registering or changing the child’s name
- Medical treatment and operations
- Accessing medical records
- Holidays abroad and in a child’s home country
- Legal representation for the child
- Using the child’s name, photo, video and any identifying details, including their location, for fostering, adoption and other purposes, online and offline.
If natural parents do not agree with the local authority’s views on how to carry out a duty, natural parents have the right to challenge the LA by submitting an application to court to get a judge to decide the matter.
Throughout the child protection process, natural parents must be fully included in decision-making about their child’s needs. They must be invited to all meetings and conferences, such as Looked After children’s meetings, and child protection meetings and reviews if a child is subject to a safeguarding plan.
Additionally, the social worker managing the family’s case must keep everyone with PR informed of any developments relating to the child’s care and ensure they get their views on these issues.
The local authority has no automatic right to overrule, veto or dominate natural parents’ involvement with their children’s needs when they have PR, and they never have the lion’s share of PR, no matter what a social worker might tell you.
Many thanks to Tum Mum, who asked us to write a post on this topic.
Researching Reform 
Thank you so much hun.
It is horrifying to think of all the parents who have been informed inaccurately in the past and I had thought it was 51% to 49% for the parents, with the LA having 51% majority over them.
Now we know it’s 50/50, this should help a lot of parents right now and in the future knowing this, with their Cases 👍🏻😘🦋🙂 Xxxxxxxxxxxx
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Thank you for alerting me to the need for this information, hugely appreciated, and yes, I hope so too xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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🙂😘💯🦋🙏 Thank you for helping to get this information out there Xxxxxxxxxx
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Thank you so much for sharing these important developments and for all that you do xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Looking at that list i can see that our LA broke the rules of PR by not discussing anything with us re –
“Schooling and education in general
Food and nutritional needs
Using the child’s name, photo, video and any identifying details, including their location, for fostering, adoption and other purposes, online and offline.”
While on a S20 we still held PR yet they moved our 7yr old Son to another School closer to the Carer without discussion and against our wishes.
We were not consulted about changes to their food.
Advertised the youngest two sons on Adoption sites without our knowledge
and we believe they were taken to an adoption open day to be viewed like animals in a pet shop.
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“Name Witheld ” your case is elirely typical and is replicated all over the country by nearly every local authority with children in care. The Children Act can say what it likes but social workers and family courts continually disregard its provisions .Parents and children are left to suffer alike.
I have never heard of any local authority giving the parents the address of fosterers or allowing freedom of contact with their children;Maybe one those parents reading this column can tell us of an exception. but I doubt it …………
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I was given their addresses and went to their houses, or I would not have allowed my 2 children, out my 4 children staying there.
I found out one of them got advertised in be my parent magazine though going over and above my PR.
Refused to sign section 20.
Yes similar patterns apply to thousands upon thousands of us parents though 😘🦋 Xx
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I would love to know who you can speak to regarding this,as the Judge does not care that my daughter is in an unsatisfactory school by Ofsted and will not move to a private school that I have shown she has a place reserved for the start of gcse course and has 5star rating fully funded by myself .I was also not allowed to attend LAC review or have anyone attend on my behalf,withholding all medical reports from myself. I have just taken it to court only for him to dismiss the case. Also did not care that she was being known by a different surname in school even though that is also illegal. Who can I show this to as I cannot get this infront of a different judge even though they have moved her from Wales to England And breaking so many of her human rights.
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Hi there,
Did your daughter live with you beforehand.
Why was you not allowed into LAC Reviews or have anyone attend on your behalf. Had you asked for someone professional like a Solicitor to be there, on your behalf.
What Court Order is in place, re all medical reports been hidden from you.
Were reasons given to dismiss the Case.
Could you appeal.
A child or anybody can be known by a different name. I remember teachers at high school, asking if anyone would rather be referred to by a different name. Has there been any further develops to cause you to believe your daughter’s surname has been used illegally in school.
Why can you not get it in front of a different Judge. Were errors made by the Judge who dismissed your Case.
Why was your daughter moved so far away. Was you consulted first for your views.
Have any Order’s been made against you.
Just trying to help 😘🦋 Xx
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If this is not being done by the local authority or the Judge (who I want to change) how can this be implemented.
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