S47 Enquiries

[ELA91]

Hello, I am looking for advise on S47 enquires?
My 14 year old son was using his phone inappropriately to meet with children he is not supposed to socialise with so as a consequence to this I removed his phone. This then led to my son leaving the family home and going missing for 2 nights!
The police contacted me and said he was going to stay with my dad which I agreed with as I have 2 younger children I also wanted to safeguard from what was going on.
A week later a SW turns up at my dads and speaks to my son for the first time for around 10mins then leaves and states she is attending a strat meeting.. later that day I finally get a call to say S47 enquires are going ahead!
SW comes out to visit me and says my baby and 7 year old are also a part of the enquiry! I asked how as they are not at risk of significant harm, my sons behaviour was not within the household and following it I have safeguarded them by agreeing to him staying with his Grandpa.
I don't understand how the younger 2 siblings have been dragged into this?
Also I was told by the police my son had said if he came home he would keep running away however my son is adamant he never said this and that the police never offered him to return home they said about him going to Grandpa's. The whole reason this seems to of escalated to S47 is because the police report is false.
My son attends school every day, is with CAHMS as suspected ADHD and has no youth offending etc so this seems very extreme!
I as a parent set boundaries and consequences however my son broke this and didn't want to have his phone removed so ran away, he made a very silly choice which he now regrets how has this situation blown up to this? Even having my son on the s47 means suspected of significant harm however I even have a message on my phone from the SW stating there are no Safeguarding concerns and I've been acting appropriately it's just my sons behaviour.

[Ignatious]

Hi ELA91,

Firstly, Welcome to FRG.

Section 47's are governed by legislation, I enclose a link to that legislation below.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/41/section/47

I would go back to the social worker and confirm whether the case is still open, or case closed. I would ask for that to be formally confirmed in writing.

In regards to the phone issue. I heard an interesting scenario / story which I'm going to ad-hoc summarise.

I would politely remind your son that the phone is not his, and if he wants his own phone, to go and get one. Also, good luck with that as you need to be aged 18 in order to (legally) sign the contact.

Depending on what happens with Social Services (open or closed) feel free to add to this thread, or if you need any further help / advice.

For now, It appears to me that Social Services have conducted their S47 enquiries, and closed the case, and you currently have little to worry about.

If you are so included, you could put in a subject access request for any/all information that social services have on you. Usually these requests need to be put in writing and can take (I think) about a month.

Good luck, Take care.

[ELA91]

Hello, Thank you for taking the time to reply to me..
We are still under the s47 enquiries as the SW has made a visit for next to see us, she also rang for my consent to put me on a parenting course.. I politely reminded her that I know how to parent as I have boundaries and consequences such as removal of phone for poor behaviour and that I encourage education etc so she then backtracked on the parenting course and said about referring my son to some kind of course to learn about healthy and positive friendships.
I'm really hoping all this gets dropped ASAP! My son has admitted he made a silly choice that escalated, he said he wanted to come home but once he'd ran off and it got longer and longer it made him feel he should keep going. I'm struggling to understand where the suspected significant harm comes into play here to justify the S47?
It sounds asif even if my son is not put on a CCP they will be going for CIN which I know is voluntary but I feel I'm backed into a corner where if we don't consent to the CIN they will just go for a CPP anyway even though its completely unnecessary. We have a great relationship and he just pushed the boundaries as teens do, he is in full time education and has 96% attendance rate, we have great family support and he attends drs, dental and cahms appointments. He is loved and cared for, a clean home, food in his tummy and clean smart clothes.. there are so many children and adolescents that don't have the above that actually need help and are slipping through the net because SW are focusing on the wrong families.
I can't believe a silly choice has caused us this much stress,pain and intrusion into our lives

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Hello, I am looking for advise on S47 enquires?
My 14 year old son was using his phone inappropriately to meet with children he is not supposed to socialise with so as a consequence to this I removed his phone. This then led to my son leaving the family home and going missing for 2 nights!
The police contacted me and said he was going to stay with my dad which I agreed with as I have 2 younger children I also wanted to safeguard from what was going on.
A week later a SW turns up at my dads and speaks to my son for the first time for around 10mins then leaves and states she is attending a strat meeting.. later that day I finally get a call to say S47 enquires are going ahead!
SW comes out to visit me and says my baby and 7 year old are also a part of the enquiry! I asked how as they are not at risk of significant harm, my sons behaviour was not within the household and following it I have safeguarded them by agreeing to him staying with his Grandpa.
I don't understand how the younger 2 siblings have been dragged into this?
Also I was told by the police my son had said if he came home he would keep running away however my son is adamant he never said this and that the police never offered him to return home they said about him going to Grandpa's. The whole reason this seems to of escalated to S47 is because the police report is false.
My son attends school every day, is with CAHMS as suspected ADHD and has no youth offending etc so this seems very extreme!
I as a parent set boundaries and consequences however my son broke this and didn't want to have his phone removed so ran away, he made a very silly choice which he now regrets how has this situation blown up to this? Even having my son on the s47 means suspected of significant harm however I even have a message on my phone from the SW stating there are no Safeguarding concerns and I've been acting appropriately it's just my sons behaviour.

Dear ELA91

Thank you for posting twice on our Board and welcome. My name is Suzie, and I am one of the advisers at Family Rights Group. I hope to cover the questions and queries you raised in your posts in this response.

I am sorry to read that you are struggling to understand the process and the reasons for the Section 47 inquiry and the child protection process and how and why siblings or other children within a family are included in this process.

It may be helpful to ‘understand’ the term significant harm. You will see that it is a ‘strong’ term and could be applied to (or considered as relevant) when your son was missing for two nights. I imagine you were very worried about and his whereabouts during that time - he may or could have been at ‘risk’ of harm during that period. I am glad that he is with his grandfather, is safe, and that he hopes to return home to you soon .

You said that the social worker said that there were no safeguarding concerns, here is a definition from our website about safeguarding. Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 was updated in 2023 please see page 7 of the newer version.

Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 has some information out ‘risks’ that children may experience that come from outside their homes and how these risks might affect their siblings or other members of their household, please see pages 67 and 68. There are some useful charts too, please see those on pages 103 and 104.

You mentioned child in need, here is a definition of the term from our webpages.

If you would like to speak with one of our advisers about your situation, please call our confidential telephone service on 0808 801 0366, our lines are open Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 3.00pm. You can access us on Webchat too on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2.00pm to 4.00pm.

I hope this is information is helpful.

Best wishes
Suzie