Revocation of a Placement Order

1. The Court's Power to Revoke a Placement Order

The court may revoke a Placement Order on the application of the child or the Local Authority/Trust. The court may give leave to any other person to apply for revocation if:

• The child has not yet been placed for adoption; and
• The court is satisfied that there has been a change of circumstances since the order was made.

If the court decides not to make an Adoption Order, it may revoke any Placement Order in respect of the child.

2. Application by the Local Authority/Trust

If a child who is the subject of a Placement Order has not been placed for adoption by the time of the 6 month review, that review must consider whether it remains satisfied that the child should be placed for adoption. This question must be reconsidered by all subsequent reviews.

When a review recommends that adoption should cease to be the plan for the child, it should propose an alternative plan. The alternative plan could be for a Child Arrangements Order, a Special Guardianship Order, long term fostering or return to the care of the parents.

If the team manager agrees with the review recommendation the social worker will notify the Agency Decision Maker (Adoption), providing the review papers and any other relevant reports, and request ratification of the recommendation. The request must state the alternative plan for permanence.

The Agency Decision Maker may ratify the recommendation or reject it or may defer a decision until further work is completed, for example further analysis in the Child's Permanence Report or further exploration of the options for kinship care.

If the Agency Decision Maker rejects the recommendation the social worker will reconvene the review to reconsider the plan for the child.

If the Agency Decision Maker ratifies the recommendation the social worker will update the Child's Permanence Report to reflect the new plan.

The social worker will notify Legal Services and provide the following information and documents:

• The updated Child's Permanence Plan;
• The date on which the Agency Decision Maker ratified the plan for adoption;
• Copies of the Care Order and Placement Order;
• The date on which the Agency Decision Maker ratified the decision that the plan for the child should no longer be for adoption;
• A statement for the Court which explains why the Placement Order is no longer appropriate and should now be revoked.

Please see: Placement Order Revocation Statement Template.

3. Application by any Other Person

On receiving notification that any person intends to apply for discharge of a Placement Order the social worker will notify the team manager, the Head of Service and the Agency Decision Maker (Adoption).

If, at the time of an application for revocation, the child is not placed for adoption, the Children's Trust must not place the child for adoption without leave of the court.

4. Effect of Revocation of a Placement Order

If there was a Care Order in force immediately before the making of the Placement Order, when the Placement Order is revoked, the Care Order immediately comes into effect. This includes a Care Order made at the same time as the Placement Order.

When a court revokes a Placement Order, it may direct that:

• The child is not to remain with the prospective adopters and that they must return the child to the Local Authority/Trust by a set date; and
• As soon as the child is returned to the Local Authority/Trust, it must return her/him to a parent or guardian; or
• If the child is in accommodation provided by the Local Authority/Trust, that the authority must return him/her to a parent or guardian at once.