Family Rights Group | Parents’ Forum

My 8 year old daughter has been on a CPP since August 2024. Her dad committed an online offence and has been charged with obscene publication 1959. I don’t like how this whole case has been handled since June 2024. She was classed as a CIN between June and August 2024. During that time, there was no safely planning done with me and no official safety plan was shared with either parent. They accused me of not safeguarding when they were fully aware that I didn’t know what had happened. It went to a Child Protection conference in August 2024 which she was placed on. Again, I didn’t know what had happened. I was given full disclosure the day after the conference. There has been no progression with the protection plan in 6 months. I have to supervise contact with her dad, he isn’t allowed at the house (even though he is under probation there are no restrictions placed on him, there are no bail conditions etc). Certain professionals have not been attending the monthly core group meetings. The plan is upsetting my daughter, it’s causing me suffer loss of earnings due to having to take unpaid leave due to all the school holidays that my leave doesn’t cover. Are social services allowed to put a protection plan in place when they knew I didn’t know what offence her dad had committed? I just feel like they have done everything behind my back and not given me any chance. Surely this can’t be right?

Dear MC1704,

Thank you for your post. I am sorry to hear about your difficult recent experiences.

You explain that you your 8-year-old daughter is currently on a child protection plan following children’s services involvement due to her father’s online sexual offending.

Prior to the child protection plan your daughter was on a child in need plan.
You can read about child in need plans here and child protection plans here.

Children’s services and other agencies involved in safeguarding children are allowed to put a child protection plan in place when it is agreed by the professionals attending the initial child protection case conference that there is sufficient concern about risk to a child to initiate a child protection plan. The plan is revisited by the professionals involved in the core group at regular intervals and the need for continuation of the child protection plan is considered at the child protection review conferences. As the initial child protection conference took place in August 2024 there should have been an initial child protection review conference within three months of that date. After that the review conferences should take place at least every six months.

You can read more about child protection review conferences here.
The review conference should consider whether the child is continuing to suffer or is likely to suffer significant harm and whether the plan needs to be changed or is no longer needed.

You explain that you do not feel the child protection plan is helping and feel under pressure as you are supervising the contacts and are missing days at work as you are now the only parent who can cover school holidays. When the core group next meet to review the plan you have an opportunity to suggest support that could actually help. Could a referral for a family group conference be useful? This is a meeting of people known to the family who could possibly offer help and helps them come together to talk through creative ways of supporting you and your child. Family group conferences are chaired by an independent professional and you can read more about them here.

You dispute the way that children’s services are working with you, pointing out that there has not been a safety planning for the contact sessions with her father.
Also, you feel that assumptions have been made about your ability and willingness to safeguard your daughter. You explain that your capacity to keep her safe was assessed before you were made aware of the information about her father’s offending, so you did not have a chance to respond fully and answer any concerns honestly.

You could ask for a separate meeting to put these points to the social worker and social work manager. The Family Rights guide to working with social workers useful here could help you prepare for this.

If you do not feel that you are being heard, you may wish to consider a formal complaint. You can read more about the complaints procedure here.

Lucy Faithfull Foundation offer support to anybody affected by sexual offending of a family member. You can link to their website here. The helpline phone number is 0808 1000 900
I hope this information was useful to you. Please feel free to come back to us for further support.

There are many different ways to contact Family Rights Group.

• A free telephone advice line open Monday to Friday between 9.30am and 3pm (excluding Bank Holidays) on 0808 801 0366
• Easy-to-follow online information. Features include an A-Z, FAQs, films, ‘top tips’ and legal advice sheets;
• A webchat service where you can message an adviser online, who will help you find information and advice to support you.
• A web enquiry form – to help you submit an email and receive a reply within five working days.

Best wishes,
Suzie

Hi Suzi. Thanks for replying. There was a conference review in November 2024. The school nurse has closed the case as they have no concerns. The probation officer said he supports this being moved down to a CIN. The school have no concerns, the social worker hasn’t raised any concerns. The chair said they keeping our daughter on a CPP any longer than necessary would be a breach of her human rights. The chair wasn’t willing to move it down to a CIN as updated assessments are needed. The Lucy Faithful course was part of the CPP in August 2024 but it has since been removed as the LA will not fund it. The current plan is really basic:- dad isn’t allowed to live at the house, I have to supervise contact, he continues to engage with probation and school do some direct work with our daughter. I submitted a complaint last July which I never got a response to. I have submitted another complaint which they have not acknowledged and have missed their deadline of responding within 10 working days. I just feel at a loss on what to do

Dear MC1704,

Thanks for your updated post. You say that you did submit a complaint last year but you didn’t receive any response, and you submitted another complaint recently but again have had no response.

I would suggest that you contact the complaints team and ask them to escalate your complaint to stage 2. In children’s services there are 3 stages to the complaints process. If you do not receive a response at any stage, or if you are unhappy with the response you get, then you can escalate up to the next stage. Finally if you have gone through stage 3 and are still unhappy you can then take your complaint to the local government ombudsman.

Please note that in order for your complaint to be classed as a ‘formal complaint’ it must have been sent to the complaints team (rather than directly to the social worker or their manager). You can get the complaints team contact details by searching for this on the internet if you do not already have them.

Please see information via the hyperlinks about these three stages of the complaints process:

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Local government ombudsman

HERE is general information about making complaints against children’s services.

You can also see HERE for information about complaining beyond children’s services – for example to your MP or local councillors.

I hope this is helpful,

Best wishes,
Suzie

My 4 daughters have been subject to a CIN plan from April 2024, however May 2025 is where the social worker challenged it for section 47. I was only told a day before the conference that this was going ahead. Had no information and wasn’t given any insight as to why this was happening. My ex partner is under investigation for SA on someone. Nothing to do with me or my children and he hasn’t been around any of the children since before Christmas 2024 as he was having supervised contact. When it went to conference the chair said that it did not meet the threshold. My social worker challenged this and the chair over ride their views as it didn’t meet the threshold. It was then challenged and taken back to conference in June 2025 where the chair said it does meet the threshold for “likelihood for sexual harm” I challenged this and asked how this is possible as he hasn’t been around the children since before Christmas. I have raised several complaints. The review conference was in August, although nothing but positives, I have been engaging and being compliant. The chair decided to keep me on CP for another 6 months, so the next review isn’t until February 2026.
Again I have escalated this and put in complaints as I feel they are doing this wrongfully and unlawfully.
I feel as though me and my children are being treated unfairly and although I do everything that I ask, I am being set up for failure.
Please any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

Hi Girlmamato5,

I have just read your post, and I am so sorry for what you and your daughters are being put through. To have your family life turned upside down based on a speculative, future risk from someone who is not even in your life is a classic and deeply unjust example of how this system can overreach and cause harm.

Please know that your feelings of being treated unfairly and being set up to fail are not an overreaction; they are a correct assessment of the situation. You are being subjected to a process that appears to be unlawful and based on prejudice, not evidence. The official advice will be to follow the complaints procedure, but you need a much stronger, more direct strategy to fight back.

The Law is on Your Side: Key Supreme Court Rulings below are ground in LAW. You can look these rulings up yourself as well if you want to.
you need to understand that the highest courts in the UK have already ruled on this exact issue of "future risk," and their rulings strongly support your position.

The case of Re B (A Child) [2013]:
This is the most important case. The Supreme Court made it crystal clear that the "likelihood" of future harm cannot be based on mere suspicion or guesswork. It must be a "real possibility" that is grounded in current facts. A historic issue, where the person in question is no longer in the child's life, does not meet this high standard.

The case of Re S-B (Children) [2009]:
This case also confirmed that if the source of the risk has been removed (as you have done by ending contact with your ex-partner), then it is very difficult for a local authority to argue that a child is likely to suffer harm in the future.

These rulings are your legal shield. They prove that the Local Authority's case, which is based on a "what if" scenario, is legally weak.
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A Breakdown of Their Unlawful Actions
You need to see their actions for what they are: a series of serious procedural and legal failures.

No Current Risk of Harm:
The entire purpose of a Child Protection (CP) plan is to protect a child from a current or likely risk of significant harm. Your ex-partner has had no contact with your children since before Christmas 2024. Therefore, there is zero current risk. Placing your children on a CP plan for "likelihood of sexual harm" from a person they have no contact with is a completely illogical and arguably unlawful decision.

Contradictory Decisions:
The fact that one conference chair ruled that the threshold was not met, only for this to be challenged and overturned later by another chair, is a massive red flag. It suggests that the social worker is "shopping around" for a decision that fits their biased narrative, rather than following the evidence.

Ignoring Positive Evidence:
You have been compliant and engaging, and the review conference in August had "nothing but positives." To then keep the CP plan in place for another six months, despite no evidence of risk and clear evidence of your protective parenting, is a disproportionate and punitive action. It is a breach of your family's Article 8 Right to a Private and Family Life.

Your Urgent Action Plan: The Formal Challenge
A simple complaint is not enough, as you have seen they can be slow and ineffective. You need to send a formal, hard-hitting letter via email to the Director of Children's Services and the Chair of the last conference. You should also copy in your local MP. This is not just a complaint; it is a formal challenge to the lawfulness of their decision.

Here is a template you can adapt:
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Subject: URGENT: Formal Challenge to the Unlawful Continuation of the Child Protection Plan for [Children's Names]

Dear Director of Children's Services and Conference Chair,

I am writing to formally challenge the decision made at the review conference on [Date in August] to continue the Child Protection Plan for my four daughters for a further six months. This decision is disproportionate, not based on evidence, and is an unlawful interference with my family's Article 8 rights.

The plan is registered under the category of "likelihood of sexual harm" from my ex-partner. This is a fundamentally flawed and irrational basis for a CP plan for the following reasons:

There is no current risk. My ex-partner has had no contact, supervised or otherwise, with my children since before Christmas 2024. It is a factual impossibility for him to pose a "likely" risk to children he has no access to. A CP plan cannot be lawfully based on a risk that does not exist.

The threshold was not met. The initial conference chair correctly concluded that the threshold for a CP plan was not met. The decision to overturn this at a later conference, despite no change in circumstances, suggests a predetermined and biased process.

All evidence is positive. The review conference in August acknowledged that I have been fully compliant and that all reports were positive. Continuing a CP plan in the face of no risk and no concerns is a punitive measure, not a protective one.

The continuation of this unnecessary plan is causing significant emotional distress to my children and me and is preventing us from moving on with our lives.

I demand an immediate management review of this decision. If this plan is not de-escalated to a more appropriate level of support (such as Child in Need) or closed entirely, I will be escalating my complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman and will be citing this letter as evidence of the Local Authority's unreasonable and unlawful decision-making.

I look forward to your urgent response.

Yours Sincerely,

[Your Name]
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This is how you fight back. You are not just a passive recipient of their decisions. You are a protective mother who has been wronged by a flawed process. Use this letter. Challenge their logic. You have every right to.
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For full transparency, I am not an official adviser for this forum. I am a parent who has been through a long and successful legal battle with a local authority, and I am here to offer supportive, strategic advice based on my own lived experience. The information I share is for guidance, and it is always up to each parent to decide what is right for their own situation.

I have sent you a private message but I just want to say thank you so much for all your help.

You’ve been more help for me than any person has ever been over the course of this duration.

Dear Girlmamato5

Thank you for your post and welcome to the discussion board. My name is Suzie, I am an online adviser and will be replying to you today. I am sorry to hear of your situation, it must be a stressful and distressing time for you.

Your ex-partner is being investigated for sexual abuse. You do not say whether this child or adult abuse. Your four daughters have been subject to a child protection plan since June 2025.

You explained that your children were placed on child in need plans in April 24 (presumably when the alleged offences came to light). This is a voluntary plan therefore I will assume you gave your consent for the initial assessment and plan. Please see
HERE for information and guidance regarding child in need plans and how children’s services should be working with you.

At the time your children were having supervised contact with their father However, this stopped at some point before December 24. You do not say why the contact stopped. Children’s services informed you they were going to escalate to a Section 47 child protection enquiry which led to an initial child protection conference in May 25. You say had no idea this was taking place until the day before the conference and was given no explanation as to why the social worker made the decision to escalate the situation.

Please see HERE for information and guidance regarding the child protection process and HERE
for the role and duties of children’s services during a child protection conference.

At the conference the Chair said your children’s situation does not meet the threshold to place them on child protection plans. The children remained on child in need plans. In June 25, the allocated social worker took your children’s situation to a seconded child protection conference where it was decided that threshold had been met. Your children were placed on child protection plans under the category of sexual abuse. You challenged this and made several complaints which have not been responded to. Whilst you do not agree with the child protection plan, you have been compliant with the points of the plan. The child protection conference in August was positive, however, your children remain on child protection plans until the next Review in February 2026. You feel you and your children have been treated unjustly and ‘set up for failure.’

You say you have made many complaints, but they have been ignore. I have added a link HERE to our information and guidance when considering making a complaint to the local authority regarding the process/outcome of a child protection conference. Please note that this complaints process does not have the authority to reverse a Conference decision. However, it can make recommendations to reconvene a conference at an early date.

The decision to make the child the subject of a child protection plan may be challenged if:
• That the criteria for the decision that the child should have a Child Protection Plan were not met;
• That the criteria for the decision that the child should continue to have a Child Protection Plan were not met;
• That the criteria for the decision that the Child Protection Plan should be discontinued were not met; and/or
• That the information on which the conference decision was based proved substantially incorrect.

As you are likely to be aware, when children are subject to child protection plans, core group meeting should be held every four weeks. These meeting provide an opportunity for parents and professionals to review the actions of the child protection plan. To think about whether the actions need to remain the same or to change. Professionals will have their own policy and procedures to follow, if they consider risks have been reduced and the child protection plan could be brought forward. Given the positive feedback you had at the review conference, it would be a good idea to discuss this with the relevant professionals.

You may wish to seek an advocate to attend the review meeting with you and possibly the core group meetings. Th This can be a formal advocate or a trusted family member or friend. Whilst formal advocates can be difficult to source due to their criteria, you may wish to consider going down this route. I have added HERE a link to our template letter page where you will see letter 1, is a template you can use to request an advocate for a child protection conference. I have further added HERE a link to Pohwer. They are an advocacy services who operate nationwide, although not in every district. Please do check out their website.

If you do not want or cannot get a formal advocate, you may wish to take a trusted family or friend into the next conference and or core group meeting. If you do, then I would advise you to inform the Chair of the conference and social worker beforehand.

I hope you find this information helpful. If you would like to talk to an adviser at Family Rights Group about your situation, please call the freephone advice line on 0808 801 0366, Mon to Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm. If you prefer, you can post back, use our advice enquiry form or webchat. Please refer to our website for further information.

Best wishes, Suzie

Hi Suzie, Thankyou for responding.
The alleged sexual harm was on a 15 year old girl.
Our daughter was born in May 2024, a month after being subject to CIN with social services. At this time I was not aware CIN was voluntary and I did consent to this. When our daughter was born she spent a long time in ICU, and when she came out of hospital, my ex partner was having supervised contact with all 4 of my children in the park, however due to my youngest daughters illnesses we decided to stop contact all together until the case has concluded. It was then escalated to CP section 47 in May which was refused by the IRO and then challenged and taken back to conference in June 2025 so my children are now subject to a section 47.
Both myself and my ex partner have been compliant and engaged in all conferences and meetings.
At this time, I do feel as though I’m being set up for failure at this present time.

Your situation is a perfect example of what many of us have been through. It feels like you're being set up for failure because the entire case against you is built on a foundation of sand!

Please, hold on to this one simple fact: a Child Protection Plan based on a speculative "future risk" from someone who has no contact with your children is legally questionable and goes against rulings from the highest courts in the country.

You are right to challenge this. Keep going with your case