LV22C50093 - [2025] EWHC 1474 (Fam)

The child who is at the heart of these proceedings is N, aged 7 years old. He is of dual Italian and Romanian heritage. He currently resides in local authority foster care.

The applicant local authority is Liverpool City Council who have been represented at this final hearing by Ms Targett-Parker. The local authority seeks a final care order and approval of their final care plan that N remains placed in long-term foster care. They propose contact should continue with mother on a fortnightly basis. Their plan as regards N’s contact with his father is a more complex one. They seek for the contact to progress over the next few months to unsupervised staying contact with the hope that, if all goes well, N will be able to spend extended holiday time with his father, initially in the UK and then in Italy. The possibility of N being rehabilitated to his father’s care will be kept under consideration as part of the LAC review process.

N’s mother is Ms A who has been represented at this final hearing by Mr Jones KC and Ms Johnson. Ms A supports the Local Authority’s application and the final care plan.

N’s father is Mr O, represented by Ms Lorraine Cavanagh KC and Mr Haggis. Mr O opposes the application and final care plan. He seeks for N to be placed in his immediate care under an order of the Italian courts whereby parental responsibility would be shared with the local child protection services and a range of services and support provided to him. Pursuant to an Article 33 request under the Hague Convention 1996, Al Servizio Sociale Unione Comuni Verona Est have confirmed by letter dated 11th April 2025 their willingness to support N’s return to his father’s care in Italy on those terms.

N’s guardian is OD represented by Ms Cheetham KC and Miss Squires. The guardian supports the Local Authority’s application and final care plan. She opposes a move to father’s care in Italy.

The Court notes at the outset of this judgment the lamentable delay that there has been in reaching final welfare decisions for N. It is now more than 3 years since the local authority first made their application. The impact of that delay and the ongoing uncertainty on N’s welfare should not be under-estimated.