Member

Amendment 74 seeks to secure early permanence for a child with a kinship carer by removing the requirement that they have lived together for a year before being granted an order under Section 8 of the Children Act 1989. It gives discretion to the court to decide what period of time, if any, is needed. That would both speed up the process of securing permanence and help to avoid the decision being contested by the parents, which makes the process acrimonious, stressful and lengthy.