Case No. LN23C50022

1.Ellie (not her real name) was born on 25 February 2023. On 27 February 2023, before Ellie and her mother were discharged from hospital, Lincolnshire County Council (“the LA”) commenced care proceedings and applied for an urgent interim care order (“ICO”). The stated purpose of the LA’s application was to remove Ellie immediately from the care of her parents. The application came before District Judge Veits on the same day. He granted the application at a summary hearing. He was satisfied that Ellie’s safety demanded her immediate separation from her parents. Ellie was taken by social workers and placed in the care of the mother’s own sister (supported by their mother). 2.The order was, of course, of the utmost gravity which directly interfered with the right to a family life of the parents and Ellie.3.The parents wished to challenge this order. Although the draft of the order made by District Judge Veits states that it will last until the conclusion of the proceedings it was arranged that the matter would be reconsidered by me at a reasonably full hearing in Lincoln on 2 March 2023. At that hearing the matter proceeded as if the LA were making its application ab initio. No reliance was placed on the reasoning of District Judge Veits (which had not been transcribed). The application was therefore heard de novo, the LA accepting that it had to prove its case from scratch.4.Section 38(2) of the Children Act 1989 provides that:“A court shall not make an ICO or interim supervision order under this section unless it is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the circumstances with respect to the child are as mentioned in section 31(2).”5.Section 31(2) provides, for the purposes of this case:“A court may only make a care order or supervision order if it is satisfied that the child concerned is suffering, or is likely to suffer,