R & Anor v Shropshire Council & Anor

In care proceedings, decisions about removal must assess the risks of separation alongside the risks arising if the child remains at home. The assessment must be evidence-based and must account for the child’s welfare, development, family relationships and the practical support available to the parents.

Where parents have learning difficulties, the local authority should provide clear parameters, meaningful engagement and a sufficiently detailed support and safety plan. Applications should be founded on properly tested evidence and a focused analysis of risk.

The proceedings concerned H, a child aged four years and four months, whose parents sought to continue caring for her at home. Shropshire Council had repeatedly sought her removal and placement in long-term foster care. Earlier care and placement orders had been overturned on appeal, and later applications concerning removal and a foreign holiday had followed.

After further assessments, a new Guardian and a final care-planning exercise, the local authority changed its position shortly before the final hearing and supported H remaining at home. The central issue was whether H could safely remain with her parents under an agreed care plan providing extensive support and safeguards.

1. H was to remain at home with her parents under a largely agreed care plan providing extensive support and a detailed safety framework. The court regarded this as the appropriate outcome because H had thrived in her parents’ care, had a close and loving relationship with her mother, and there was evidence that her mother met her needs.

2. Risk assessment in care proceedings must address both sides of the welfare balance. The risks of remaining in parental care must be considered alongside the risks and potential long-term harm arising from removal, including the possibility of long-term foster care and disruption of the child’s relationship with her birth family.

3. The court criticised the local authority’s earlier approach. Its proposed removal applications had not always been supported by adequate analysis of risk or sufficiently tested evidence. The court emphasised the need for basic forensic checks before pursuing proceedings and for a child-focused assessment of the consequences of litigation.

4. Parents with learning difficulties require clear parameters, a high level of practical support and meaningful engagement. The local authority should work with the parents as they are, having regard to their mistrust and the need for an effective safety plan. The court hoped the order would establish a new and constructive relationship between the local authority and the parents.

• Court of Appeal: an earlier care and placement decision was overturned on appeal and the matter was remitted for further consideration, as recorded in [2023] EWCA Civ 59.
• High Court (Family Division): subsequent judgments addressed allegations of harm and a proposed holiday, including [2024] EWHC 344 and [2024] EWHC 1191. A later appeal concerning the holiday was withdrawn before hearing.