questionText: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what operational guidance (including authorised professional practice, College of Policing guidance, National Police Chiefs’ Council guidance, or Home Office circulars) governs police involvement in safeguarding incidents where officers facilitate or endorse a material change in a child’s place of residence despite the refusal of a person with parental responsibility and without exercising section 46 of the Children Act 1989; and whether that guidance requires officers to (a) treat the arrangement as time-limited, (b) take steps to ensure the child is returned absent lawful authority, or (c) notify or refer the matter to the local authority and/or Family Court within a fixed timeframe, and what consequence applies if this does not occur.
answerText: The police play a vital role in safeguarding children and relevant guidance materials. This includes the College of Policing's Authorised Professional Practice (APP) and the statutory guidance for safeguarding partners Working Together to Safeguard Childr...
heading: Children: Protection