Child Safety Orders

It is difficult to comprehend that children under 10 years of age would engage in criminal activities or behaviour that would make them known to the police, but unfortunately that is the case.

To help deal with the problem the Child Safety Order (CSO) has been set in place. This is a court order aimed at children of 10 years of age and under to stop them becoming involved in anti-social behaviour. A Child Safety Order is used when there are no other means available of trying to ensure the cessation of any behaviour considered to be criminal by a child.

Why are Child Safety Orders Granted?

A CSO will be granted if there is sufficient concerns about the behaviour of a child in the care of his or her family. If there is reason to suspect that the child's behaviour is a direct result of problems within the family unit, a Child Safety Order may be issued by the Family Proceedings Court in order to allow for the intervention and supervision of either local authority and/or Youth Offending Teams.

The implementation of a Child Safety Order is the equivalent to an Anti-Social Behaviour Order and as such carries with it similar terms and conditions.

For example, under the terms of a Child Safety Order the child governed by it may not:

• Be seen to be in a particular area without relevant adult supervision
• Be outside the family home after a designated time – reminiscent of a Curfew
• Be seen to be in the company of other children considered to be influential to the child
• Be absent from school without good reason or prior knowledge of both school and parents

Depending on the nature of the child's behaviour and the reasons behind the implementation of the Child Safety Order, there may be other conditions entered into. The aforementioned are some of the most common.

What Happens if a Child Safety Order is Breached?

As the child under the supervision of a Child Safety Order is not of prosecutable age, he or she is not liable to any criminal proceedings if conditions of the order are broken. However, given specific circumstances, the local authority involved may pursue – in conjunction with the court – a Parenting Order which in turn makes the parents responsible for the behaviour of the child.

The idea of a Parenting Order is to encourage the child's parents to make sure that he or she abides by the conditions laid down, and failure to do so may result in the handing down of a fine which can be a minimum of £1,000. In certain circumstances which are indicative of particular unruly behaviour, both a Child Safety Order and Parenting Order may be implemented as a means of combating behaviour that constitutes anti-social and criminal behaviour.

For further information, contact your local authority, Community police officer or Youth Offending Team.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Parental Rights Checker lets you check your legal rights as a parent on education, health and welfare decisions. Try it now →