An Emergency Protection Order (also called an EPO) is an urgent order granted by the Court if the local authority has satisfied the court that a child is in immediate need of protection from significant harm or a risk of significant harm. These types of applications are usually issued by a local authority.
They can follow situations where the police have exercised their powers to remove children under police protection (which is a temporary situation of up to 72 hours). If there is no immediate risk of harm, then the most likely application will be an application for a care or supervision order, sometimes on short notice if there is still an element of urgency to the facts of the case.
If an EPO is granted by the Court, the local authority/ children services then share Parental Responsibility for the child/ren and in support of their application they will have filed a proposed care plan detailing their views around the following issues:
- Whether the child/ren should be removed from the parent(s) and if so, where they should be placed pending further consideration by the court; for example should the child/ren be placed with other family/friends (approved by the local authority) or should they be placed with local authority foster carers, for example.
- What safeguards need to be put in place to address the identified risk(s) to the child/ren.
- What contact can be safely arranged for the parents to see the child/ren.
It is a criminal offence to prevent someone from removing a child if an EPO has been granted. The child/ren are usually removed by a social worker and can be accompanied by police if it is felt necessary, depending on the situation.
How long does an EPO last?
An Emergency Protection Order usually lasts for up to eight days. However, an application may be made to extend this. This will be granted for up to 7 days if there is reasonable cause to believe that the child is at risk of significant harm.
What contact can I have with my child if an EPO is made?
The local authority is under a duty to allow reasonable contact between the child/ren and parent(s). However, what is reasonable depends entirely on the circumstances of the case and most often, any contact that is permitted by the local authority is supervised – usually in a children’s contact centre but sometimes other arrangements can be made to be supervised by family members although that usually comes much later on in proceedings.
Can I appeal against an EPO?
You can apply to discharge (dismiss) the Emergency Protection Order within 72 hours only if:
- You were not given notice of the hearing and
- You were not present at the hearing
However, if it was believed by Children’s Services that the child was at immediate risk of harm and/or in immediate danger, they have the right to apply for an EPO without giving notice to the parent(s).
More often than not, following any EPO application, the local authority will then apply for interim care orders (ICOs) to maintain the status quo of the children’s arrangements pending further assessments/investigation of the family. The parents (with parental responsibility) will be given notice of any ICO application listed before the family court and legal aid is available as it is not means or merits tested.
It is at that first hearing that the parents may wish to challenge the continuing separation from their child/ren and in reality, the ICO hearing may be listed sooner than an appeal can be prepared.
Head of Family, Kirsty Richards comments:-
Whenever the local authority is involved with a family, it is without doubt one of the most scariest times for the parent/s and child/ren as these decisions can be made very urgently after relatively little court time. There are some parents that I have helped in the past that have been working with social services for some time prior to the issue of court proceedings and when things then escalate to the family court arena, they do not always think it is necessary to get legal representation.
I would advise any parent/ carer with parental responsibility that it is crucial to get legal advice at the earliest opportunity when the local authority has given you notice of any court hearing. Most local authorities will have a list of specialist lawyers attached to any letter advising of imminent legal proceedings, otherwise you can search for a solicitor that is a Member of the Law Society’s Children Panel via the Law Society’s website. We have many accredited solicitors here at NLS and a team of junior lawyers that assist with this type of case. We have experience of this type of proceedings nationwide and are committed to providing a high quality of legal advice to all parent/s in this situation.
How we can help
Our expert team of family solicitors are specialists in the area of Emergency Protection Order/Interim Care Order applications and are experienced in responding quickly in what is almost always a very rapidly developing situation.
Please call 0203 6015051 for specialist legal advice from one of our accredited solicitors. It is crucial to obtain legal advice as early as possible whenever the local authority is involved with your family and has taken the decision to issue court proceedings.
