Recommendation 40: Removal as last resort

From The Report of the Inquiry into the Removal of Children from Orkney in February 1991, published 27 October 1992.

Recommendation

Removal of a child should be recognised as a course to be considered where no alternative exists and the urgency of the risk requires it (16.9). Caution must be exercised (16.10). The gravity of the threat has to be considered (16.11) and the applicant must be satisfied that the situation calls for immediate removal of the child (16.12).

Jurisdiction: UK-wide

Page: 355

Reference: Summary of Recommendations, no. 40

Government response

No government response to this recommendation is on the record yet.

Delivery

No statement on delivery from the addressee has been found in the sources searched (last checked 27 February 2026). This is separate from the response above.

Source

Inquiry Orkney Inquiry

Report The Report of the Inquiry into the Removal of Children from Orkney in February 1991 27 Oct 1992

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Themes and tags

Care safeguarding systems Care risk assessment failures

Recommendation made 34.0 years ago