The way in which protection and welfare services (for want of a better contrast) are provided remains an issue. Lines are sometimes drawn within agencies distinguishing roles and responsibilities of different staff for aspects of work with children and families. To draw a line between agencies in my view causes an added problem for the professionals just at the critical point when the decision whether to remove the child has to be taken and would not improve the taking of the decision.

Rupert Hughes, the senior civil servant who steered the Children Act 1989 through parliament, with robust input from so many in the children's sector, wrote his reflections on its implementation ten years later, for Children England's (then NCVCCO) annual review. We re-published it, alongside reflections from our CEO Kathy Evans, for the 30th anniversary of the Act, which we commemorated with a debate in Manchester in November 2019. 

Download the set of two essays below.

What does the Children Act 1989 mean to you? Essays for the 30th anniversary