How to use this reference
Read the term you have seen in a letter, an email or a phone call from the local authority. Each section below is one paragraph or two, in plain English, covering what the term means, whether it is voluntary or compelling and what your rights are at that stage.
The terms are ordered from least to most serious. A family may go through any of them (or none), and the stages do not always progress in order. A referral can start at any point on this ladder.
Early Help
The voluntary end. Early Help is the council's term for support offered when it thinks a family might benefit from it, before any statutory process begins. Examples: parenting courses, a family support worker, a sign-post to a local charity.
Early Help is not compelling. You can accept it, decline it or accept some elements and not others. A refusal is not, on its own, evidence of concern. Most referrals that start at Early Help close at Early Help.
Section 17 (Child in Need)
The first statutory stage. Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 gives local authorities a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of "children in need" in their area. "Children in Need" is a defined term covering children who need services to maintain a reasonable standard of health or development.
A Section 17 assessment is voluntary. You can decline to engage and the local authority cannot compel you. In practice most families engage because it can unlock useful support (respite, therapy, equipment) and because engaging prevents the case being escalated unnecessarily.
What Section 17 does not do: it does not mean your child is at risk of significant harm, it does not give the local authority power to remove your child and it does not require you to host a home visit.
Section 47 enquiry
The serious end of the process and a different category from Section 17. Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 is triggered when the local authority has "reasonable cause to suspect that a child who lives, or is found, in their area is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm".
A Section 47 enquiry carries legal force in a way Section 17 does not. The LA is required to make the enquiry. The parent is expected to cooperate. Refusal of all contact can itself become a concern, which is why the consistent advice is to engage with specialist advice, never to refuse blankly.
If you receive a letter naming Section 47, ring Family Rights Group the same day and instruct a family law solicitor. Legal aid is often available.
Child Protection conference
A multi-agency meeting that follows a Section 47 enquiry in which the LA believes the threshold for significant harm is likely met. The conference considers whether the child should be made subject to a Child Protection plan.
You have a right to attend, to see the LA's report three working days in advance, to bring a support person and to speak. The conference chair is independent of the social work team. Outcomes can be: no plan (the case closes or continues as Child in Need); a Child Protection plan; in rare cases, the LA begins court proceedings.
Ring your solicitor the day the conference is scheduled. Bring them or a Family Rights Group advocate to the meeting.
Child Protection plan
A written plan setting out what needs to change, who will do what and by when, with a named social worker as case lead and a core group of professionals meeting periodically. Plans are categorised under four headings: neglect, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse.
A Child Protection plan is not a court order. Your parental responsibility is unchanged. The child remains with you unless separate proceedings apply (see Section 31 below). The plan is, however, a formal commitment to a set of actions and is reviewed regularly.
Most plans run for three to twelve months and end when the concerns are addressed. A small minority escalate to court. All families on a Child Protection plan should have a solicitor engaged.
Section 20 accommodation
The most commonly misunderstood part of the system. Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 lets a local authority accommodate a child away from the family home with parental consent. It is voluntary in statute; it requires the parent's informed, genuine consent.
In practice, Section 20 can be presented to parents in ways that imply they have no choice (for example, at a crisis moment, without legal advice, under the framing "if you do not agree, we will go to court"). You always have the right to decline Section 20 and to request legal advice before agreeing. If a social worker is pressing for a Section 20 agreement, ring Family Rights Group before signing anything.
Section 31 (court proceedings)
The compelling end. Section 31 of the Children Act 1989 lets the local authority apply to the family court for a care order or a supervision order. The court applies the "threshold criteria": the child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm, and the harm is attributable to the care being given, or to the child being beyond parental control.
Section 31 proceedings are serious and complex. Legal aid is non-means-tested for parents in care proceedings; you will have a solicitor appointed automatically. The court, not the local authority, decides the outcome.
What stays the same at every stage
Two things are worth remembering whatever section you are reading about.
Refusing a home visit is not evidence of harm. The 2019 DfE EHE guidance and the 2023 Working Together guidance are both explicit on this. You can offer alternatives (written report, video call, neutral-venue meeting) at every stage and expect them to be considered.
Home education is not, on its own, a safeguarding concern. The same pieces of guidance make this point repeatedly. A referral grounded only in the fact of home education is improperly grounded; Family Rights Group will say so on the phone.
This article is information, not legal advice. Any contact from the local authority using the language of Section 47, Section 31, Section 20 or a Child Protection conference is serious and requires specialist advice within twenty-four hours.