Holidays and School/Organisational Visits Outside the UK

Arrangements for notifying and consulting the Social Worker about holiday plans should be agreed in the Placement Plan/Placement Information Record.

The consent of the parent(s) or person with Parental Responsibility must be obtained and consent form signed. This should be used to provide the following information:

• Proposed dates and duration of the holiday;
• The wishes and feelings of the child;
• Address(es)/contact details of the holiday location/what type of holiday;
• Insurance details;
• Who will be present on the holiday e.g. names of other children and other adults;
• If the holiday involves staying with friends or relatives, their names and addresses;
• Emergency contacts;
• Any risk assessments that may be required, which should include any health or behaviour issues of the child as well as the holiday environment itself.

If it is a group holiday, the social worker must be satisfied that suitable and sufficient planning has been undertaken in support of the visits, the Holidays and School/Organisational Visit - Leaders Checklist can be used as a guide.

Children must not be taken on holiday during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances; such a request must be approved by the Head of the child’s school and the Social Worker's Manager.

The procedure is the same as for those for Accommodated Children (see Section 1, Holidays for Accommodated Children) except that the consent of the parents or person having Parental Responsibility is not required but should be obtained wherever practicable or possible. Any objections by the parent(s) should be recorded on the child's electronic records.

The social worker should ensure that arrangements are in place through the Placement Plan/Placement Information Record to be notified well in advance of any plans for holidays abroad in order to obtain required consent.

If the child is the subject of a Care Order and the holiday abroad is for more than one month, an application must also be made to the appropriate Court for the Court’s permission to allow the child to go abroad if the parent’s written agreement is not obtained.

Where a Court Order is required, the social worker should contact Legal Services as soon as possible for the necessary application to be made and advise the parents of the intended application.

If the holiday is authorised by the Court, the holiday should be included in the Placement Plan/Placement Information Record.

• The Home Office has issued Guidance for Local Authorities Children's Services Departments when Applying for Passports on Behalf of Children;
• Children's Services Departments are normally only entitled to apply for passports for a Looked After Child when they have parental responsibility;
• Where Children's Services do not hold parental responsibility, the application cannot be processed without the consent of at least one person who has parental responsibility for the child.