Child Protection Procedures - East Ayrshire Council

families. It will be consistent with good practice and the principles of
the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to assess, first and foremost,
whether the child is 'in need'. That assessment will also consider
whether one of the child's needs is to be protected.
7.4.2 In keeping with the principles of the Act such an assessment should,
wherever possible, be undertaken without the need for a statutory
order, in co-operation with parents and taking into account the views
of the child.
7.4.3 The duty on local authorities "to cause inquiries to be made" under
Section 53 of the Act should be explained to parents and the
opportunity given for them to explain their point of view. Parents who
continue to refuse to allow their child to be seen or assessed should
be advised of the options when there are concerns about a child's
safety, including application for a child assessment order and the
effects of this and other child protection measures. A copy of the
authority's leaflet should be left with the parents.
7.4.4 A child assessment order is not an emergency order. The decision to
apply for it should be planned and only be made after a process of
consultation with other agencies. When consideration is being given
to the necessity for an application for an assessment order this
should be discussed with the local Service Unit Manager.
7.4.5 Before making a decision about the need for a child assessment
order the Service Unit Manager/Team Leader should, wherever
possible, convene and chair a case discussion to consider the
matter. Case discussions should involve representatives of
appropriate agencies, in particular health and education staff.
Consideration should be given as to whether consultation with
council's legal services is required at this stage.
7.4.6 The case discussion should consider whether the criteria for a child
assessment order are satisfied. It should pay particular attention to
whether co-operation may be obtained in any other way and whether,
in the circumstances, the child assessment order is the most
appropriate measure to be sought.
7.4.7 The case discussion should consider any difficulties likely to be
encountered in implementing the order, if granted. In particular it
should consider whether assistance may be required from the
police/sheriff officers to enforce the order.
7.4.8 The local Service Unit Manager should contact the authority's legal
services to give notice of such a request for assistance.
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