New provisions on the disclosure of information
Adoption and Children Bill
10:10 am
Sandra Walker:
The test for making a care order is that the threshold conditions are satisfied, which is the significant harm test. A placement order cannot be made unless the court, similarly, is satisfied that those criteria are met. Before the court can make a care order, it must look at the question of the child's welfare and then decide whether to make the order. It may not make it unless it considers that doing so would be better for the child than making no order at all. Precisely the same test is in the Bill: the court may not make an order unless it considers that doing so is better for the child.