The Children Act 1989 introduced the principle that the welfare
of the child is paramount. It defined parental responsibility
as having ‘all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities, and
authority’ (The Children Act 1989: 41). The Act provided
the legislative basis for ‘Every child matters’, a Government
initiative and publication, and promoted better accountability
of local authority children’s services (Department of Education,
2003). It also created a statutory requirement for LSCBs. In
England, LSCBs are the inter-agency statutory boards that
bring together the local authority, police, health organisation