Placing children: deprivation of liberty orders

Deprivation of liberty orders (DoL)

A DoL order makes it lawful for a child to be deprived of their liberty. The court authorises the order and any restrictions are set out clearly in the order.

Children of any age, subject to a DoL, generally require high levels of care and supervision. This means that a child subject to a DoL will likely be placed in a children’s home or a care home service.

The UK government has put regulations prohibiting local authorities in England from placing children under 16 in settings where they do not receive ‘care’.

A children’s home is a setting in England that provides care and accommodation, ‘wholly or mainly’ for children.

A care home service is a setting in Wales that provides care and accommodation to a child because of their vulnerability or need.

Children’s homes must be registered with Ofsted and a care home service must be registered with the Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW).

Effect of the DoL Order

A DoL order makes it lawful for a child to be deprived of their liberty. The court authorises the order and any restrictions are set out clearly in the order.

The order allows these restrictions as a maximum – it does not mean that, as a provider, you must apply all the restrictions at all times (for example, if the need for the restrictions has reduced and this has been agreed with the child’s social worker).

The order only makes the restrictions/deprivation of liberty lawful – it does not mean that the provider does not need to register with Ofsted/CIW if operating a children’s home or care home service.

The court may refuse to authorise a deprivation of liberty order if the placement provider will not apply to register.

Registration

If you are a local authority placing a child, you should check whether the placement is registered with Ofsted in England or CIW In Wales.

It is a legal requirement that:

• a children’s home in England registers with Ofsted.
• a care home service in Wales registers with the Care Inspectorate Wales.

It is an offence to operate or manage a children’s home or care home service placement if you are not registered.

If you are an unregistered provider providing a placement for a child with a DoL you must: 

• register with Ofsted or CIW immediately – it is an offence to operate without registration

Private providers must:

• inform the local authority who has placed the child about the steps taken to register
• keep the local authority informed of the progress of the registration application at all times – the registration status may be used by the court when making decisions on continuing the DoL order.

You can apply through Ofsted’s ‘priority application’ process (External link) or through the CIW’s online application process.

If you are a local authority that has placed a child in an unregistered setting, we will keep you informed about any relevant application to register that we receive. In England you can also contact your local SHMI or regulatory inspection manager to ask for an update. In Wales you can contact CIW’s registration team for advice and support.