Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the criteria are for capacity tests used to assess a person's suitability to look after a child; and what guidance his Department has issued on the use of those criteria.

Neither the Children Act 1989 nor its supporting statutory guidance prescribes the criteria that local authority social care should consider when assessing the capacity of a parent or prospective carer. However, relevant guidance for local authorities in making these decisions is set out, primarily, in the following publications:

‘Working Together to Safeguard Children (2015)’, setting out the parameters and principles of a high quality assessment, including of parental capacity;

‘Care Planning The Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations, Volume 2: care planning, placement and case review (2015)’, setting out factors to be considered in assessing the parenting capacity of the parent, and procedures that should be followed in placing a looked after child with a carer or in residential care.

Decisions are therefore based on the professional judgement of social workers and the circumstances of the individual child; the local authority is under a duty to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare and when the court makes a decision the welfare of the child is paramount. Where a carer is needed for a child who cannot live with their birth parents, all types of prospective carers – whether foster carers, special guardians or adoptive parents – are considered in terms of their capacity to look after children in a safe and responsible way that meets the child’s development needs, and will have been assessed and approved by the local authority or a relevant agency.

The government is undertaking wide-ranging reforms to improve the quality of social work practice and decision-making, including through assessment and accreditation against Knowledge and Skills Statements, which are also the post qualifying standards for child and family social work. These standards provide clarity about the expectations of child and family social workers, with specific reference to effective assessments.