Section 16A — Children Act 1989: Risk assessments

Risk assessments 16A 1 This section applies to the following functions of officers of the Service or Welsh family proceedings officers—

a any function in connection with family proceedings in which the court has power to make an order under this Part with respect to a child or in which a question with respect to such an order arises;

b any function in connection with an order made by the court in such proceedings.

2 If, in carrying out any function to which this section applies, an officer of the Service or a Welsh family proceedings officer is given cause to suspect that the child concerned is at risk of harm, he must—

a make a risk assessment in relation to the child, and b provide the risk assessment to the court.

3 A risk assessment, in relation to a child who is at risk of suffering harm of a particular sort, is an assessment of the risk of that harm being suffered by the child.