The Children Act and the principle of less eligibility

One of the most significant features of the Children Act 1989 (Society, 13 November) was that it introduced a child development framework into the rationale for the provision of statutory services for children and families. Whereas previous legislation had focused on the circumstances under which parents might be regarded as “unfit” and their children removed, the 1989 act introduced a new concept of “children in need” who would not achieve a sufficient standard of health or development, or whose health or development might be significantly impaired, without the provision of services. Local authorities were given a new duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in need by ensuring that such services were available.

By framing the debate on child welfare provision in terms of promoting children’s satisfactory development, the act paved the way for the introduction of policy initiatives such as Quality Protects, Every Child Matters and Care Matters, which set targets for children’s satisfactory development and aimed to narrow the gap between the achievements of children in need, including those in care, and their peers. For the first time since it was introduced in 1834, the Poor Law principle of less eligibility (that children who receive support from the state should not be given more advantages than those in the poorest families who managed without help) had been eradicated.

The current government has presided over an increase in poverty and homelessness, together with a reduction in services designed to support families and children in need, as local authority budgets have been slashed. One of the most pernicious moves has been the provision under the Immigration Act 2016 to withdraw statutory support for care leavers from looked-after children whose immigration status has not been regularised by the time they are 18. Post-Brexit, such a provision may have implications for EU children in the care of UK local authorities (EU children in care face legal limbo over Brexit red tape, says charity, 8 November). These children and young people are now regarded as less deserving of support than others – showing that the principle of less eligibility has returned. Government policy appears to be moving further away from the Children Act’s focus on promoting children’s satisfactory development, and we are all the poorer for it.
Dr Harriet Ward
Emeritus professor of child and family research, Loughborough University

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