4.6 Lincolnshire Joint Working Protocol - Provision of Appropriate Adults for Children and Young People

RELATED CHAPTER

Police and Criminal Evidence Act (Section 38) and Provision of Local Authority Accommodation

This chapter was added to the procedures manual in August 2020.

1. Aims

The aim of this protocol is to safeguard children through ensuring that any child whom is detained and/or interviewed by the police, including as a voluntary attender, are supported by an Appropriate Adult.

It is crucial that in all encounters with the police, those below the age of 18 should be treated as children first. This protocol should be underpinned by the principle that all officers and practitioners must have the highest regard for the safety, welfare and well-being of children as required under S10 and S11 of the Children Act 2004 and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The protocol is also intended to clarify the duties and responsibilities of agencies in the management of arrangements for Appropriate Adults for children whom their parents or carers are unwilling, unsuitable or unable to fulfil the role of an Appropriate Adult.

2. Scope

This protocol applies to children (aged 10-17 years) who have been detained and or interviewed, including as a voluntary attender, by the police and their parents or guardians are unwilling, unsuitable or unable to fulfil the role.

This protocol represents a voluntary agreement between:

  • Lincolnshire Police;
  • Lincolnshire County Council Children Services (Children Services Future 4 Me Team, incorporates Lincolnshire Youth Offending Service);
  • The Appropriate Adult Service (TAAS).

This protocol applies to all children who are detained and / or interviewed in Lincolnshire, including those children who are not a resident of the Local Authority Area, Lincolnshire.

The protocol will be subject to review to ensure it is effective in meeting the key aims set out above.

Police and Criminal Evidence (PACE) Act 1984 set out the rules and safeguards for policing in England and Wales including role of the appropriate adult (AA).

The role of the appropriate adult is to safeguard the interests, rights, entitlements and welfare of children and vulnerable people who are suspected of a criminal offence, by ensuring that they are treated in a fair and just manner and are able to participate effectively.

When the police detain a child (aged 10-17) or interview them as a voluntary attender, they must inform an appropriate adult as soon as practicable and ask them to attend. The police are required to take all reasonable steps to secure the attendance of the child's parents or guardians to act as their appropriate adult.

The provision of appropriate adults for children (under 18) is a statutory duty of Youth Offending Service (YOS) under section 38(4)(a) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Each YOS has a legal duty to provide appropriate adults for those children whose parents or guardians are unwilling, unable or unsuitable who need them within the geographical area they cover. This is irrespective of the specific location or the home area of the child. This duty applies at any time of day or night.

Parents and guardians may not be an appropriate adult if:

  • They are suspected of involvement in the offence;
  • They are the victim;
  • They are a witness;
  • They are involved in the investigation;
  • They are a police officer or employed by the police;
  • They are the young person's solicitor or independent custody visitor;
  • The young person has admitted the offence to them before attending to act as the appropriate adult;
  • The child or young person is estranged from their parent and specifically objects to them attending.

Children Services caseworkers, foster carers or residential workers cannot undertake the appropriate adult role for a child they are supporting and should not be requested to do so.

Lincolnshire Liaison and Diversion (L&D) Service provide early intervention for vulnerable people as they come to the attention of the criminal justice system, including identification of people with participation difficulties and facilitation of effective participation. This service is available in Boston, Lincoln, Grantham, Skegness custody suites, Lincoln and Boston Magistrates Court, 7 days per week, 365 days per year, 9am -9pm. The L&D service cannot undertake the appropriate adult role.

4. Appropriate Adult Requests

The Police will contact the Local Authority to request an Appropriate Adult if the child's parents or guardians are unwilling, unsuitable or unable to fulfil the role, or they are not contactable. Requests should be made by telephone to:

Future 4 Me (F4Me) Children Services, Monday-Thursday 9-5pm, Thursday 9-4:45pm, via Business Support on 01522 553611 (South) or 01522 554554 (North). These will be directed to the F4Me Duty Worker.
Or
The Emergency Duty Team (EDT), out of the above hours, via Customer Service Centre (CSC) on 01522 782333.

Requests for an appropriate adult service can be made anytime of the day (24 hour, 7 day service), however any requests for attendance out-of-hours in line with the best interests of the individual child.

When making a request to the local authority, the Police will provide information about the child, the offence and the reasons for parents/carers non-availability.

The police must contact a solicitor prior to the Appropriate Adult to ensure that the child is legally represented. An Appropriate Adult request will not be accepted and progressed by the Local Authority, if legal representation has not been requested by the police.

The police can only request to pre book an Appropriate Adult if the child is a Child in Care residing at one of Lincolnshire's Residential Homes (Eastgate, Albion Street, Northolme).

Detention can be very stressful so it is important that an appropriate adult attends as soon as is practicable in order to minimise the amount of time the child spends in detention. Youth Justice Board (2014) Case Management Guidance requires attendance within two hours of the initial request being placed. In order to use time and resources to best effect, police and local authority should consider the location and travelling time of the appropriate adult requested, as well as the availability and arrival time of the solicitor and arrangements for those jointly arrested.

5. Responses to Appropriate Adult Requests, Children Services

When the request is received out of hours, CSC will contact The Appropriate Adult Service (TAAS) on 03332 424999, to request an Appropriate Adult and share the information provided by the police in relation to the child, the alleged offence and the reasons the parents or guardians are unable to attend. The details of the request times that the initial request was made by the police and that the subsequent request was made to TAAS will be recorded by CSC as a contact on the child's mosaic record.

When the request is received by F4Me Business Support, this will be directed to the F4Me Duty Worker. The F4Me Duty Worker will contact the police officer to discuss the request and gain additional information from the police, completing Section 1 of Appendix 1: Appropriate Adult Request Form.

If the child is being detained/ interviewed for an alleged offence of murder, manslaughter of attempted murder, Section 18 or 20 involving a weapon, rape or attempted rape, a MAPPA serious further offence when the young person is already subject to MAPPA, or a terrorism related offence, Children Services Senior Management must be made aware. F4Me Duty worker or will need to inform a Practice Supervisor, who will inform F4Me Senior Management and complete the Notification of Significant Events Assistant Director form. For those received out of hours, CSC will to complete and submit the Notification of Significant Events Assistant Director form and also notify the F4Me Management Team, by email (this will be picked up next working day).

If the police are aware of the child having any learning difficulties, language difficulties or other forms of vulnerability or have any concerns in regards to the child's current emotional state of welfare needs, the F4Me Duty worker will ensure that this information is passed onto TAAS if an AA request is made and/ or shared with relevant children services teams/ workers.

If the reason given by police for the parent or guardian being unable to attend and act as an Appropriate Adult is not an accepted reason, as identified in 3.5, the F4Me Duty worker should be satisfied that the Police have taken all reasonable steps to secure their parents/ guardian's attendance.

In these instances:

  • The F4Me Duty worker will also attempt to contact parents/ carers directly to explore further and discuss the options. If the parents are refusing to attend, this should include explaining to them how vulnerable their child may be and reminding them of their responsibilities as parents. If parents are unable to attend, F4Me Duty worker will explore what the barriers are to attendance and what support, if any, can be offered to facilitate this;
  • Where the child is looked after by the local authority, it should not be assumed that the parent will be unwilling or unable to act as appropriate adult, where he or she retains parental responsibility:
    1. If the child is Looked After under section 20 or Section 31 of the Children Act 1989, the attendance of parents should still be encouraged although care should be exercised to identify whether there are any child care/protection reasons to preclude parental contact. A Section 34 order would for example clearly preclude the parents /carers attending the police station as the appropriate adult.

The F4Me Duty will check the child's Lincolnshire Children Services records (mosaic and childview) to establish any potential safeguarding concerns and / or information that may be relevant to share with the police and/ or TAAS e.g. health or learning disabilities.

Where the child residence is outside of Lincolnshire, or he or she is placed in Lincolnshire by another local authority, Lincolnshire Children Services may not hold a record for that child, or they will have limited information. Where practicable, the F4Me Duty worker or CSC should contact the 'home' local authority to gain any relevant information to share with TAAS/ police.

If the child is open to Children Services, the F4Me Duty worker will email the relevant worker to inform them of the Appropriate Adult request.

When it has been established that an Appropriate Adult is required to be provided by TAAS, the F4Me Duty worker will contact TAAS on 03332 424999 to make the request and share the information provided by the police in relation to the child, the alleged offence and the reasons the parents or guardians are unable to attend. The times that the initial request was made by the police and that the subsequent request was made to TAAS will be recorded on The Appropriate Adult Request Form, for reporting purposes.

6. Responses to Appropriate Adult Requests, The Appropriate Adult Service

Wherever possible the time spent in Police custody by children should be kept to an absolute minimum. The current contract between Lincolnshire County Council and The Appropriate Adult Service (TAAS) stipulates that Appropriate Adults should arrive within 2 hours of the request being made to TAAS.

Police will make all efforts to keep Appropriate Adult requests between the hours of 09.00 and 22.30 hours, however if requests are received outside of these hours, TAAS should aim to respond to these in accordance within the 2 hour agreed contract timescale.

Where the allegation relates to a particularly serious offence, TAAS will allocate an experienced Appropriate Adult.

TAAS will maintain records of all Appropriate Adult request received from the Local Authority, including the times of request received.

When TAAS have acted as an Appropriate Adult, they will gain feedback from the child, using Appendix 2: Service User Feedback Form and from the Custody Sergeant, using Appendix 3: Police Feedback Form (TAAS).

TAAS will also complete the TAAS Referral Form (formally known as PACE Monitoring Form) (Appendix 4: TAAS Referral Form) in respect of each interview attended. All completed documents must be e-mailed to Youth Offending Service, via secure e-mail address Grp.lincsyos-ho@lincolnshire.cjsm.net or Grp.lincsyos-south@lincolnshire.cjsm.net as soon as possible, by the next working day at the latest.

If any issues are observed by, or disclosed to the TAAS Appropriate Adult in relation to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child, the TAAS appropriate adult will respond to any concerns directly where possible and/escalate where appropriate. Concerns are reported to the Custody Sergeant or PACE Inspector if needed. Unresolved Safeguarding concerns are reported to Police, a TAAS Manager, recorded on TAAS Referral Form. Any immediate safeguarding concerns should be raised with Lincolnshire Children Services, Customer Service Centre (CSC) on 01522 782111, or outside of office hours contacting the Emergency Duty Team on 01522 782333.

7. Police and Local Authority Roles and Responsibilities – Children Who may be Unable to Return Home Following Police Interview

When the police make the initial request to the Local Authority for an Appropriate Adult, the F4Me Duty worker or CSC should attempt to ascertain if the police are aware of any potential reasons as to why the young person may not be able to return home. It is acknowledged that whilst the police cannot pre determine the outcome of the child's interview, they may be aware of potential issues due to the nature of the alleged offence and or response from parents/ guardians.

There are several reasons why a child may not be able to return home following a police interview.

A child has attained 12 years and has been charged with an offence and bail is denied for one of the following reasons:

  • They cannot be identified;
  • To prevent offending (imprisonable offences only);
  • Prevent injury, loss or damage;
  • Prevent interference with justice or the investigation;
  • For their own safety;
  • Believe they won't attend court;
  • Necessary to take a sample under PACE (age 14+ only) [Section 63B PACE 1984];
  • The child is charged with a serious violent/sexual offence listed in section 25(2) Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (CJPOA) 1994 and has previously been held in youth detention for any listed offence and there are no exceptional circumstances to justify bail;
  • If the custody officer believes that he ought to be detained in his own interests.

If this is indicated as a possible outcome, the F4Me Duty worker should discuss the case with the police to establish whether there are any services that F4Me could offer would avoid the need for bail being refused, such as, for instance, escorting the young person to court where resources allow.

F4Me Duty Worker will alert Emergency Duty Team (EDT), the Children Services Lead Professional and their Team Manager (when the child/ young person is open to Children Services). These alerts are to ensure that the relevant teams are aware of potential outcome.

Police remain responsible for notifying Lincolnshire Children Services, Customer Service Centre (CSC) on 01522 782111, or outside of office hours contacting the Emergency Duty Team on 01522 782333 once the interview is completed, if the child/young person is unable to return home for the reasons above. If the child is denied bail, in accordance with the Joint Working Protocol, PACE Section 38 (see Appendix 4: TAAS Referral Form).

The child's is released following interview, there are no bail conditions in place preventing them returning home, however the child's parents/ guardians have refused to have the child return home and / or the child is refusing to return home and no alternatives friends/ relatives have been identified.

If this is indicated as a possible outcome and the child is open to Children Services, the F4Me Duty Worker should contact the Children Services Lead Professional and their Team Manager. If the child is under 16, F4Me Duty must also alert EDT, via email. If the young person is 16/17, F4Me Duty worker must alert the Youth Homeless Duty Manager by telephone. Out of Hours, CSC will notify EDT.

If the child is not open to Children Services, the F4Me Duty worker should make enquires of the parents/ guardians, unless there are immediate safeguarding concerns, regarding the child returning home to explore the concerns and reinforcing their responsibilities as parents. If the parents or guardians are in agreement for the child to return home, however they are reluctant to do so due to concerns, this should be explored further to clarify what support is already in place or needed and how they can access this. If the parents or guardians are not in agreement for the child to return home, if the child is UNDER 16, F4Me Duty worker must alert the Emergency Duty Team (EDT) via email. Out of Hours, CSC will notify EDT.

These alerts are to ensure that the relevant teams are aware of potential request for support. Police remain responsible for notifying Lincolnshire Children Services, Customer Service Centre (CSC) on 01522 782111, or outside of office hours contacting the Emergency Duty Team on 01522 782333 once the interview is completed, if the child/young person is unable to return home for the reasons above.

The child is released following interview and there are bail conditions in place preventing the child returning home.

If this is indicated as a possible outcome, the F4Me Duty worker would respond as per 7.2.2, with any contact with parents exploring opportunities for the child to stay with alternative, extended family and or support network.

TAAS attend the police station as the appropriate adult, and are not responsible for addressing any issues that the young person may have that prevents them from returning home, however if they become aware while at the police station, that accommodation is likely to be an issue, they should alert the Lincolnshire Children Services, Customer Service Centre (CSC) on 01522 782155, or outside of office hours contacting the Emergency Duty Team on 01522 782333.

8. Outcome of Police Interview

Once the police have interviewed the child, the custody officer must make a decision as to how to proceed with the case.

  1. Where there is insufficient evidence to charge the young person with the offence, the police should either:
    • Release the young person and take no further action;
    • Release under investigation without bail conditions;
    • Release the young person on bail pending further inquiries, to return to the police station at a later date.
  2. Where there is sufficient evidence to prosecute the young person, the police can, depending on the circumstances, dispose of the case by way of:
    • No further action (in exceptional cases only);
    • Community Resolution;
    • Referral to Joint Diversionary Panel;
    • Summons to court;
    • Charge and deny bail – see PACE Section 38 Protocol.

TAAS should not provide transport for young people from the police station. In general, the police are responsible for ensuring that the young person gets back safely to their home address or liaising with parents or carers, except where the child is subject to a care order in which case, the responsibility rests with Children's Services. During office hours, the police should contact the allocated social worker. Outside of office hours, the police should liaise with EDT

If any safeguarding concerns have been identified by the police during the interview, the police should submit a PPN (Police Protection Notice) to inform Lincolnshire Children Services.

TAAS will complete Appendix 4: TAAS Referral Form (formally known as PACE Monitoring Form) and Appendix 5: Police and Criminal Evidence Act (Section 38) and Provision of Local Authority Accommodation in respect of each interview attended. This must be e-mailed to Youth Offending Service, via secure e-mail address Grp.lincsyos-ho@lincolnshire.cjsm.net or Grp.lincsyos-south@lincolnshire.cjsm.net as soon as possible, by the next working day at the latest.

The F4Me Duty Worker will be forwarded a copy of the TAAS Referral Form. If any safeguarding or public protection concerns have been identified, these concerns will be responding to, including sharing with any involved workers/ agencies, informing the relevant locality F4Me Practice Supervisor and updating the child's children services records.

Respective agencies will respond to safeguarding and public protection concerns in accordance with their own policies and procedures

If the young person has been charged, and in particular if he or she has been refused bail (either transferred to LA accommodation under section 38(6) of PACE or detained at the police station), then the F4Me Duty worker should liaise with the relevant locality F4Me Practice Supervisor to ensure that the appropriate preparations are made to allow for a proactive bail assessment at court, and the preparation of a package of intervention, if appropriate, to reduce the need for the young person to be refused bail, and remanded to youth detention accommodation.

F4Me Business Support with update the child's children services records (mosaic and child view) with the outcome of the interview and record the times in which the Appropriate Adult arrived at the police station and left. Copies of the Appropriate Adult Request Form and the TAAS Referral form will be attached the child's children service records and shared with any involved workers.

9. Escalation

There should be appropriate challenge between Police, the Local Authority and The Appropriate Adult Service to ensure that children are supported by an Appropriate Adult and that requests for Appropriate Adults are responded to in a timely way to avoid delays whilst children are in police custody.

It is acknowledged that on occasion there may be a disagreement between the Police, the Local Authority and The Appropriate Adult Service how a child or should be dealt with under this protocol. If disagreement exists and matters cannot be adequately resolved the case should be always be escalated for consideration by the Police Duty Inspector, TAAS Duty Officer and a Senior Manager within Lincolnshire Children's Services.

All parties shall ensure an accurate and exhaustive record of any escalation is kept.

Where it is not possible to reach an agreement following escalation, matters shall be referred subsequently to the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership for review.

10. Monitoring and Review

This protocol shall be kept under annual review to ensure that it delivers it key aims.

In all cases where TAAS have provided an appropriate adult, the TAAS Appropriate Adult will request the child to complete a service user feedback form in relation to the service they have received and will advise children of their complaints procedures should they be unhappy with the service provided. If the complaint is in relation to the Local Authority or Police, TAAS will not notify the relevant agency, any complaints received will be acted upon in accordance with agency procedures.

On a quarterly basis, the F4Me Appropriate Adult lead will undertake a dip sampling exercise of a minimum of 6 Appropriate Adult requests, to review if the protocol has been adhered to and identify any areas for learning or development.

The Police, Local Authority and The Appropriate Adult Service shall meet quarterly to review the arrangements in regards to children who require Appropriate Adults. These meetings will include the review and scrutiny of performance reports provided by TAAS, including collation of children's feedback, custody Sergeant feedback and case studies regarding the positive impact of AA. These meetings will also focus on exploring any findings from the dip sampling and any concerns or barriers in relationship to partnership working and agreeing how to address and reduce or remove these.

11. Authorisation

This protocol has been authorised by each of the participating agencies as set out below.

Daryl Pearce
Signed on behalf of Lincolnshire Police
Date: 16.6.2020

Alex Hawkin (Director)
Signed on behalf of The Appropriate Adult Service
Date: 26.6.2020

A Cook
Signed on behalf of Lincolnshire County Council Children Services
Date 5.6.2020

Appendix 1: Appropriate Adults Request Form

Click here to view Appendix 1: Appropriate Adults Request Form.

Appendix 2: Service User Feedback Form

Click here to view Appendix 2: Service User Feedback Form.

Appendix 3: Police Feedback Form (TAAS)

Click here to view Appendix 3: Police Feedback Form (TAAS).

Appendix 4: TAAS Referral Form

Click here to view Appendix 4: TAAS Referral Form.

Appendix 5: Police and Criminal Evidence Act (Section 38) and Provision of Local Authority Accommodation

Click here to view Appendix 5: Police and Criminal Evidence Act (Section 38) and Provision of Local Authority Accommodation.