B and K (Minors)

This judgment was delivered in private. The judge has given leave for this version of the judgment to be published on condition that (irrespective of what is contained in the judgment) in any published version of the judgment the anonymity of the child[ren] and members of their [or his/her] family must be strictly preserved. All persons, including representatives of the media, must ensure that this condition is strictly complied with. Failure to do so will be a contempt of court.

The children with whom I am concerned and whose welfare is my paramount consideration are B, who was born on [a date in] 2008 and is therefore five years old, and K, who was born on [a date in] �2010, who is therefore three years old.� The children are represented in these proceedings by Ms Edwards, a solicitor, through their Guardian, Sylvia Baker. �

This has been the final hearing of Buckinghamshire County Council's section 31 application in relation to these children.� The local authority seek findings in relation to threshold to satisfy the requirements of section 31 of the Children Act and thereafter support the placement of the children with the proposed special guardians, L and A.��� L is the children's paternal aunt.�

The children's mother is R, who seeks the placement of the children with herself and her partner, KH.� The mother is represented by Mr Cronshaw of counsel.� Her second position is that she supports the proposed special guardianship placement and seeks a level of contact higher than that proposed by the local authority but to be determined by the court.

By way of background to the proceedings I record that early in 2012 the mother issued private law proceedings in the Watford County Court seeking a residence order in her favour, the children at that time living with their father in what transpired to be less than satisfactory circumstances, the details of which are set out in the local authority's helpful background which I presently set out in this judgment.