Children Act 1989

The Children Act 1989 (1989 c. 41) is the principal statute governing the law relating to children in England and Wales. The Children Act 1989’s long title describes it as “An Act to reform the law relating to children; to provide for local authority services for children in need and others; to amend the law with respect to children’s homes, community homes, voluntary homes and voluntary organisations; to make provision with respect to fostering, child minding and day care for young children and adoption; and for connected purposes”.[1] The Children Act 1989 received Royal Assent on 16 November 1989 and its main provisions came into force on 14 October 1991.[1][2] The Act brought private law (disputes between parents and other individuals about a child) and public law (the state’s powers to protect children) into a single framework built on a small number of concepts: that the child’s welfare is paramount, that parents have parental responsibility rather than rights, that the court should make no order unless it is better for the child than no order, and that delay is harmful.[3][4][5]

Part I sets out the welfare principle and the welfare checklist and defines parental responsibility. Part II creates the section 8 orders, the child arrangements order, prohibited steps order and specific issue order, and special guardianship. Part III imposes duties on local authorities in England towards children in need. Parts IV and V provide for care and supervision orders and emergency protection, founded on the concept of “significant harm”.[6][7][8][9] The Act has been amended many times, most significantly by the Adoption and Children Act 2002, the Children and Families Act 2014 and the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, and in Wales Part III has been replaced by the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 since 6 April 2016.[10][11][12][13]

Written by Jess Knauf, Director of Client Strategy at Mediate UK and Associate Member of Resolution. Reviewed by Belinda Atkins, Managing Director of Mediate UK. Last reviewed 6 September 2026; last updated 6 September 2026; next scheduled review September 2027.

Overview and purpose

Before 1989 the law relating to children was spread across a series of statutes using inconsistent concepts: custody, care and control and access in private law; and, in public law, a mixture of care proceedings in the juvenile court, wardship in the High Court and administrative “parental rights resolutions” by which a local authority could assume rights over a child in its care. The Children Act replaced all of these. Its private law provisions implement the Law Commission’s 1988 report on guardianship and custody, and its public law provisions respond to a series of child protection inquiries of the 1980s, in particular the report of the inquiry into child abuse in Cleveland.[14]

The Act is founded on a philosophy that the primary responsibility for children lies with their parents, that the state should support families rather than supplant them, and that the courts should intervene only where intervention is necessary and better for the child than leaving matters alone. Those ideas are expressed in the paramountcy principle and no order principle in section 1, in the definition of parental responsibility in section 3, in the “children in need” duty in section 17 and in the threshold for compulsory intervention in section 31.[3][5][8][9]

Background

Introducing the Children Bill for its second reading in the House of Lords on 6 December 1988, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, said that Parts I and II of the Bill “largely implement the proposals of the Law Commission in its Report on Custody and Guardianship which recommends consolidating and amending the existing law in those fields to form a single rationalised regime”.[14] That report, Law Com No 172, published in 1988 with a draft Bill, proposed replacing custody and access with orders about residence and contact, introducing the concept of parental responsibility and a statutory welfare checklist, and removing the presumption in favour of making an order.

The public law provisions responded to the child protection inquiries of the 1980s, which had criticised both failures to remove children at risk and, in Cleveland in 1987, the removal of large numbers of children from their families on suspicion of sexual abuse. Lord Mackay told the House: “We were shocked too by the events in Cleveland, and helped by the very careful and thorough report of Lord Justice Butler-Sloss we must ensure that over-zealous handling of such cases does not recur”, and described the need for “a legal framework that gives effective protection to those who are too young and too vulnerable to defend themselves and is also fair to those most affected, particularly parents”.[14] The balance between protection and family autonomy that resulted is visible in the significant harm threshold, the time limits on emergency protection orders and the requirement that a local authority work in partnership with parents.[9][15]

Enactment and commencement

The Children Bill was introduced in the House of Lords, received its second reading there on 6 December 1988, passed both Houses with cross-party support, and received Royal Assent on 16 November 1989 as chapter 41 of that year.[14][1] Implementation was delayed for almost two years to allow for training, guidance and rules of court. The Children Act 1989 (Commencement and Transitional Provisions) Order 1991 provided, in article 3(2), that “all provisions of the Act which are not by then already in force shall come into force on 14th October 1991”.[2] That date is generally treated as the commencement of the Act.

Structure

The Parts of the Children Act 1989 as currently in force
PartTitleContent
IIntroductoryThe welfare principle, checklist, no delay and no order principles (s.1); parental responsibility (ss.2 to 4A); guardians (ss.5, 6); welfare reports (s.7)[6][3]
IIOrders with respect to children in family proceedingsSection 8 orders (ss.8 to 14); special guardianship (ss.14A to 14G); financial provision for children (s.15 and Schedule 1); family assistance orders (s.16); risk assessments (s.16A)[6][7][16]
IIISupport for children and families provided by local authorities in EnglandChildren in need (s.17); accommodation (s.20); duties to looked-after children (ss.22 to 24D); since April 2016 confined to England[6][8][17][13]
IVCare and supervisionCare and supervision orders and the significant harm threshold (s.31); effect of a care order (s.33); contact with children in care (s.34); interim orders (s.38); investigations directed by the court (s.37)[6][9][18]
VProtection of childrenChild assessment orders (s.43); emergency protection orders (ss.44, 45); police protection (s.46); the local authority’s duty to investigate (s.47)[6][15]
VI to VIIICommunity homes; voluntary homes and voluntary organisations; registered children’s homesRegulation of children’s homes, since largely superseded by the Care Standards Act 2000[6]
IXPrivate arrangements for fostering childrenNotification and supervision of private fostering[6]
X, XAChild minding and day carePart X repealed for England; Part XA applied to Wales[6]
XISecretary of State’s supervisory functions and responsibilitiesInspection, inquiries and default powers[6]
XIIMiscellaneous and generalEffect and duration of orders (s.91); jurisdiction and procedure (ss.92 to 97); restrictions on wardship (s.100); interpretation (s.105)[6][19]

The Act has fifteen Schedules, of which the most used are Schedule 1 (financial provision for children, including orders for lump sums and property against a parent who is not married to the other), Schedule 2 (local authority support for children and families) and Schedule 3 (supervision orders).[6]

Key sections

The most frequently cited sections of the Children Act 1989
SectionSubjectSummary and owner page
s.1Welfare of the childThe child’s welfare is paramount (s.1(1)); delay is likely to prejudice welfare (s.1(2)); presumption of parental involvement (s.1(2A), from 22 October 2014); the welfare checklist (s.1(3)); no order principle (s.1(5)). See welfare checklist[3][20]
ss.2 to 4AParental responsibilityWho has it from birth (s.2); its meaning (s.3); acquisition by an unmarried father by registration, agreement or order (s.4), by a second female parent (s.4ZA) and by a step-parent (s.4A). See parental responsibility[4][5][21][22]
s.5GuardiansAppointment of a guardian by the court or by a parent, and the guardian’s parental responsibility[23]
s.8Section 8 ordersDefines the child arrangements order, prohibited steps order and specific issue order. See child arrangements order, prohibited steps order, specific issue order[7]
ss.9 to 13Section 8 orders: restrictions, applicants, supplementary provisions and effectsRestrictions including s.9(5) (s.9); who may apply and the court’s power to act of its own motion (s.10); timetables, conditions and directions (s.11); parental responsibility following a child arrangements order (s.12); change of name and removal from the UK (s.13)[24][25][26][27][28]
s.17Children in needThe general duty of every local authority in England to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in need in its area and to promote their upbringing by their families[8]
s.20AccommodationThe duty to provide accommodation for a child in need who requires it because there is no one with parental responsibility, the child is lost or abandoned, or the carer is prevented from providing suitable care[17]
s.31Care and supervision ordersA care or supervision order may be made only if the child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm attributable to the care given or to the child being beyond parental control (s.31(2)); harm defined in s.31(9)[9]
s.47Duty to investigateWhere a local authority has reasonable cause to suspect that a child in its area is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm, it must make such enquiries as it considers necessary[15]
s.91Effect and duration of ordersA child arrangements order about living arrangements discharges a care order and a care order discharges a section 8 order; section 8 orders end at 16 (or 18 for live-with provisions); parental responsibility orders end at 18; barring orders under s.91(14), supplemented by s.91A from 19 May 2022[19][29]

Principles

Section 1(1) provides that when a court determines any question with respect to the upbringing of a child, “the child’s welfare shall be the court’s paramount consideration”.[3] The principle was already the law under earlier statutes and J v C [1970] AC 668, but the 1989 Act made it the organising rule of the whole framework and gave it content through the checklist in section 1(3).[30][3] Section 1(5) adds the no order principle, section 1(2) the no delay principle, and, since 2014, section 1(2A) the presumption of parental involvement.[3][20] In public law the paramountcy principle governs the decision whether to make an order once the threshold in section 31(2) is crossed, and the Supreme Court in Re B [2013] UKSC 33 added that permanent separation of a child from a parent must be a proportionate and necessary response.[9][31]

Parental responsibility, defined in section 3(1) as “all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property”, replaced parental rights as the legal expression of parenthood, and section 2(4) abolished the rule that a father is the natural guardian of his legitimate child.[5][4] The Act deliberately allows more than one person to hold parental responsibility at once, so that a care order or a live-with order in favour of a relative adds a holder without removing the parents.[4][27][18]

Amendments

Principal amendments to the Children Act 1989
Amending ActIn forceEffect on the Children Act 1989
Adoption and Children Act 20021 December 2003 (s.111); 31 January 2005 (s.120); 30 December 2005 (ss.112, 115)Unmarried fathers acquire parental responsibility on birth registration (s.4); step-parent parental responsibility (s.4A); special guardianship (ss.14A to 14G); “harm” extended to seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another (s.31(9))[10][32][16][9]
Children Act 2004Various from 2005Established the Children’s Commissioner and the framework for children’s services in England and Wales; amended Part III and Schedule 2 and the arrangements for Cafcass Cymru[33]
Children and Adoption Act 20068 December 2008Contact activity directions and conditions, monitoring, warning notices, enforcement orders with unpaid work requirements and compensation for financial loss (ss.11A to 11P); risk assessments (s.16A)[34][26]
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 20086 April 2009Parental responsibility for second female parents (ss.2(1A), 2(2A), 4ZA)[4]
Children and Families Act 201422 April 2014 (s.12); 22 October 2014 (s.11)Residence and contact orders replaced by the child arrangements order (s.8); presumption of parental involvement (s.1(2A)); the statutory MIAM requirement in the 2014 Act itself (s.10)[11][20][35]
Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and consequential regulations6 April 2016Part III confined to local authorities in England; equivalent Welsh functions moved to the 2014 Act[36][13]
Domestic Abuse Act 202119 May 2022Section 91A inserted: barring orders under s.91(14) where a further application would put the child or another person at risk of harm[12][29]
Victims and Prisoners Act 2024Section 18 not yet in force (as at July 2026 revision)Sections 10A and 10B: automatic prohibited steps order by the Crown Court against a parent convicted of murdering or (in qualifying cases) killing the other parent (“Jade’s Law”)[37]
Victims and Courts Act 2026Sections 3 and 4 not yet in force (Royal Assent 29 April 2026)Sections 10C to 10G: automatic prohibited steps orders against serious child sex offenders and where a child was conceived through rape[38][39]

The consolidated text on legislation.gov.uk shows the Act as amended, with prospective amendments, including sections 10A to 10G, marked as not yet in force.[6] Because Parts III and X have been amended differently for England and for Wales, and because the Family Court replaced the former three-tier court structure in April 2014, older commentary on the Act should be read with care.

Wales

The Children Act 1989 extends to Wales, and its private law and public law court provisions, Parts I, II, IV and V, apply in Wales as in England, administered by the same Family Court and with Cafcass Cymru performing the functions that Cafcass performs in England.[6][33] Local authority support for children and families is different. The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (anaw 4), an Act of the National Assembly for Wales, created a single framework for care and support for adults and children in Wales, including in Part 6 the duties towards looked-after and accommodated children.[36] When the Welsh Act came into force on 6 April 2016, consequential regulations retitled Part III of the Children Act “Support for children and families provided by local authorities in England”, inserted a provision that the Part applies in relation to local authorities in England, and redirected references for Wales to the 2014 Act; the section 17 “children in need” duty and the section 20 accommodation duty are therefore performed in Wales under sections 21 and 76 of the Welsh Act rather than under the Children Act.[13][8][17]

Statistics

The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly statistics on proceedings under the Act. In January to March 2026 there were 15,534 private law cases started in the Family Court in England and Wales, 29,793 private law orders applied for and 27,663 made, with the average private law case taking 35 weeks to reach a final order; 49 per cent of private law disposals involved no legal representation on either side.[40] The same publication reports public law (care and supervision) applications and the proportion of care cases concluded within the 26-week limit that has applied since 22 April 2014.[40][41]

Criticism and debate

The Act is generally regarded as a successful codification and its central concepts have survived thirty-five years with their structure intact. Criticism has focused less on the Act than on its operation: the length of proceedings, the withdrawal of legal aid from most private law cases in April 2013 and the resulting proportion of unrepresented parties, the resources available to local authorities to perform the Part III duties, and the handling of domestic abuse allegations in private law cases.[40] Each of these has produced procedural rather than statutory reform, through the Child Arrangements Programme, the 26-week time limit for care cases introduced by section 14 of the Children and Families Act 2014, Practice Direction 12J and, from 2026, the national expansion of the Child Focused Courts model.[41]

The statutory amendments of 2014 to 2026 have moved in two directions at once: towards encouraging parental involvement and agreement out of court (the presumption of involvement, the MIAM requirement), and towards restricting the parental responsibility of abusive parents (section 91A, Jade’s Law and the 2026 Act).[20][35][12][37][38] Whether automatic restrictions imposed by the criminal courts sit comfortably with the individual welfare assessment at the heart of the 1989 Act is a question that the review provisions in the new sections leave to the family court.[37]

See also

References

  1. Children Act 1989: introductory text and long title. legislation.gov.uk. 1989 c. 41; Royal Assent 16 November 1989. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  2. The Children Act 1989 (Commencement and Transitional Provisions) Order 1991, SI 1991/828. legislation.gov.uk. Article 3(2): remaining provisions in force 14 October 1991. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  3. Children Act 1989, section 1: Welfare of the child. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  4. Children Act 1989, section 2: Parental responsibility for children. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  5. Children Act 1989, section 3: Meaning of “parental responsibility”. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  6. Children Act 1989: table of contents (revised). legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  7. Children Act 1989, section 8: Child arrangements orders and other orders with respect to children. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  8. Children Act 1989, section 17: Provision of services for children in need, their families and others. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  9. Children Act 1989, section 31: Care and supervision orders. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  10. Adoption and Children Act 2002, section 111: Parental responsibility of unmarried father. legislation.gov.uk. In force 1 December 2003. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  11. Children and Families Act 2014, section 12: Child arrangements orders. legislation.gov.uk. In force 22 April 2014. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  12. Domestic Abuse Act 2021, section 67: Orders under section 91(14) of the Children Act 1989. legislation.gov.uk. In force 19 May 2022. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  13. The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2016, SI 2016/413 (W. 131). legislation.gov.uk. In force 6 April 2016; Part III of the Children Act 1989 confined to local authorities in England. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  14. Children Bill [H.L.]: second reading, House of Lords, 6 December 1988. Hansard, HL Deb vol 502. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  15. Children Act 1989, section 47: Local authority’s duty to investigate. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  16. Children Act 1989, section 14A: Special guardianship orders. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  17. Children Act 1989, section 20: Provision of accommodation for children: general. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  18. Children Act 1989, section 33: Effect of care order. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  19. Children Act 1989, section 91: Effect and duration of orders etc.. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  20. Children and Families Act 2014, section 11: Welfare of the child: parental involvement. legislation.gov.uk. In force 22 October 2014. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  21. Children Act 1989, section 4: Acquisition of parental responsibility by father. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  22. Children Act 1989, section 4A: Acquisition of parental responsibility by step-parent. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  23. Children Act 1989, section 5: Appointment of guardians. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  24. Children Act 1989, section 9: Restrictions on making section 8 orders. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  25. Children Act 1989, section 10: Power of court to make section 8 orders. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  26. Children Act 1989, section 11: General principles and supplementary provisions. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  27. Children Act 1989, section 12: Child arrangements orders and parental responsibility. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  28. Children Act 1989, section 13: Change of child’s name or removal from jurisdiction. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  29. Children Act 1989, section 91A: Section 91(14) orders: further provision. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  30. In re G (Children) [2006] UKHL 43, opinion of Baroness Hale of Richmond. House of Lords, publications.parliament.uk. 26 July 2006. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  31. In the matter of B (a Child) [2013] UKSC 33. Find Case Law, The National Archives. 12 June 2013. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  32. Adoption and Children Act 2002, section 112: Acquisition of parental responsibility by step-parent. legislation.gov.uk. In force 30 December 2005. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  33. Children Act 2004: table of contents. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  34. Children and Adoption Act 2006: table of contents. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  35. Children and Families Act 2014, section 10: Family mediation information and assessment meetings. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  36. Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (anaw 4): table of contents. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  37. Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, section 18: Restricting parental responsibility where one parent kills the other. legislation.gov.uk. Not in force at Royal Assent; no commencement recorded as at the July 2026 revision. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  38. Victims and Courts Act 2026, section 3: Restricting parental responsibility of certain sex offenders. legislation.gov.uk. Not in force at Royal Assent, 29 April 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  39. Victims and Courts Act 2026, section 4: Restricting parental responsibility for child conceived as a result of rape. legislation.gov.uk. Not in force at Royal Assent. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  40. Family Court Statistics Quarterly, January to March 2026. Ministry of Justice. 25 June 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  41. The Children and Families Act 2014 (Commencement No. 2) Order 2014, SI 2014/889. legislation.gov.uk. Sections 12 and 14 of the 2014 Act in force 22 April 2014. Accessed 5 September 2026.

This article is part of Family Law Wiki, published by Family Legal Ltd. It is general information about the law of England and Wales, not legal advice. Last reviewed 6 September 2026. About this site and editorial policy · Report an error.