Emergency Protection Orders

Any person that believes that the child is in immediate danger can apply for an EPO – it doesn’t matter if the person is or isn’t related to the child. In most cases, however, the application for the emergency protection order is made by a local authority and sometimes the police or NSPCC.

Yes, in most cases, the local authority (or other applicants of the EPO) has to inform the parents or the person with parental responsibility that an application for an emergency protection order is going to be made.

Of course, there are some exceptions to this rule – mostly when there is a reasonable cause to believe that the caregiver might, e.g. run away with the child. In such a case, a notice is not needed.

If the applicant does not provide notice but still proceeds with making an application for an EPO, they have to either give or send (serve) a copy of the application, as well as the order to the parents within 48 hours.

If the need arises, the court might permit a local authority to enter the premises set out to look for the child. The court also has the power to issue a warrant that authorises a police officer to accompany the social worker if there’s a chance they might be refused entry.

If a social worker believes that another child is at risk in the same premises, they can turn to court to issue them an order allowing them to search for the child. If the child is found, and the conditions in which the child was living, meet the emergency protection order requirements, the search order provides the power to remove the child immediately.

In some cases, when the court issues an emergency protection order, the court may also add some instructions to it. For instance, it can give permission for medical or psychiatric examinations, or it can exclude someone who made the child suffer significant harm from the child’s home (the so-called exclusion requirement).

It depends on the court’s decision. The court will be the one making decisions whether the child should be permitted reasonable contact with:

• its parents
• any person that has parental responsibility for the child
• any person, e.g. family members, it was living with before the emergency protection order was made
• any person that has a child arrangements order for it.

Once the court decides that it is possible for you to see the child, it will be under the court’s instructions and assisted by the Local Authority. For instance, the local authorities might request the court to make contact between the parent and the child supervised (especially in situations in where one of the parents may have been abusive towards the child).

In the first instance, an emergency protection order is valid for eight days (including the time during which the child affected by it is in police protection). After that, it can be extended for a further seven days; however, only when the court has the basis to believe that the child is likely to suffer significant harm if the EPO is not extended.

During this time, the applicant local authority needs to make a decision that will be in the child’s best interest – most likely the local authority will apply to the court for a care order or supervision order and start the legal process by submitting an application as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, there’s no way of appealing against an EPO. However, it doesn’t mean that nothing can be done. Certain people have the ability to apply to discharge the order if they haven’t received a notice or if they weren’t present during the court hearing – it can be done within 72 hours from the court’s decision.

When it comes to who can apply to discharge an EPO, the list comprises of:

• the child
• the child’s parents
• any person that has parental responsibility for the child
• any person, e. g. family member, with whom the child was living before the order was made – but only if they weren’t present at the court hearing.