Consent for Children - Parental Responsibility and the Children's Act 1989
The definition of a child is generally considered anyone under 16 and an adult anyone over 18. The ages of 16-17 which fall in between individuals are usually considered to be young adults.
As we have seen in the previous post, anyone over 16 can consent for themselves whilst those below this age can if they are deemed to be Gillick competent.
In most cases, however, for children under 16, it will be a parent or other individual who has parental responsibility who will consent to decisions on their behalf. This is in accordance with the Children’s Act 1989 which sets out who has parental responsibility:
A mother will automatically have parental responsibility for the child from birth unless this has been removed from them by the Courts.
A father will not always automatically have parental responsibility. In England and Wales they will have parental responsibility if:
They are named on the birth certificate regardless of being married to the mother and the birth was registered after 01/12/2003
Prior to 01/12/2003 the father will only have parental responsibility if:
They and the mother were married at the time of conception
If they were not married, they will have parental responsibility if they have a parental responsibility agreement or a court order.
There may be others who have parental responsibility such as step parents or parents in same sex marriages. This has to be granted to them by a parental responsibility agreement or by the court.
In other cases legal guardians may be appointed by the courts.
If a child is being adopted, the adoption agency will have parental responsibility throughout this process and all previous parental responsibilities extinguish.
Ultimately it cannot be assumed that the individual who has brought the child to the appointment has the ability to consent on their behalf. It is always worth checking this beforehand and if any treatment is required to make sure that you have consent from the appropriate individual first.
You can find out more about the Children Act 1989 below: