Sara Granshaw, Oliver Wraight and Vicky Reynolds in Oxfordshire County Council v M & Ors [2024] EWFC 261 (B)
6th Jan 2025 | Cases
Sara Granshaw, instructed by BH&O, represented the First Respondent Mother, Oliver Wraight, instructed by Truemans, represented the Child and Vicky Reynolds represented the Applicant Local Authority in Oxfordshire County Council v M & Ors [2024] EWFC 261 (B) (24 September 2024), a Final Hearing concerning an application for a care and placement order.
The parents had accepted that they could not care for the Child. The issue at the Final Hearing was whether placement of the Child with a member of the extended family was a realistic prospect and whether it was in the Child’s welfare interests, or whether adoption was the only remaining realistic prospect for the Child’s needs to be met now and throughout their life. The Court, granting a final care and placement order, concluded as follows:
“Balancing the various positives and negatives of the two options that I have identified above, I have concluded that placement with C is not a realistic option. It would expose A to a considerable risk of harm arising from maternal family conflict, as well as C not being able to support A’s relationship with F. It would require a considerable level of professional oversight and involvement in A’s life which would not be in his welfare interests and would not provide the level of stability and security that A’s welfare requires. This means that adoption is the only realistic option left for A at this point.”
