A mother has won the right to appeal against a placement order for her two children after the court’s requirements for demonstrating a change in her circumstances were deemed too stringent.

The case involved a woman with two children aged six and four.

The youngest child had been diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder. The children had witnessed their mother suffering domestic abuse at the hands of the father. The parents then separated.

The mother regularly consumed excessive amounts of alcohol and neglected the children. They were removed from her care in January 2019 but then returned to her after she stopped drinking.

However, the children were taken back into care after she tested positive for chronic alcohol use and was found intoxicated in a park with the children strapped into a pram next to her.

Experts stated that the mother was alcohol dependent and would benefit from treatment, and that with appropriate help and abstention from alcohol she could provide effective care for her children.

In November 2020, a district judge considered that returning the children to the mother was not realistic and placement orders were made

A year later, the mother filed an application for permission to apply to revoke the placement orders due to a change in circumstances

She had abstained from alcohol for over a year, obtained employment, attended cognitive behavioural therapy and counselling, and had taken several courses about autism to better understand her youngest child’s needs.

However, the recorder rejected her application on the basis that there was a risk that she could relapse as she had previously, so the position was static and there had not been a sufficient change of circumstances.

He also took into account the local authority’s assertion that it had found a prospective adopter for the children, and it was unlikely to be able to find another if the adoption did not take place. 

The mother argued that the recorder had set the bar too high when considering change of circumstances, and that her prospects of achieving revocation of the placement order were more than merely fanciful. 

The Court of Appeal ruled that the recorder’s reasoning was flawed and that the mother should be able to apply to revoke the placement orders.

The recorder had failed to consider expert evidence that the longer the mother abstained from alcohol, the better her chances of remaining abstinent in the future.

He had been right to recognise that the local authority had identified a possible adoptive placement after a long search but should also have considered the value to the children of retaining a relationship with their mother, and perhaps of being returned to her care at some point in the future.

The recorder had set the bar too high and should have concluded that there had been a change of circumstances that would enable her to appeal. 

If you would like more information or advice about the issues raised in this article, or any aspect of family law please contact our expert legal team on 02080040065, by email at [email protected] or using the form below.

Case Citations: D (Leave to Apply to Revoke Placement Orders), Re  Also known as: Mother v London Borough 

Court of Appeal (Civil Division)  Moylan LJ;  Baker LJ;  Whipple LJ 

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